Why Your Bing Ads Aren’t Showing (Common Reasons)
- November 23, 2025
- 3:14 pm
If you’ve set up a Bing Ads campaign but your ads aren’t appearing, it can be frustrating and confusing. Many advertisers spend time crafting compelling ad copy, selecting the right keywords, and setting budgets, only to find their campaigns underperforming—or worse, not showing at all. Understanding why your Bing Ads aren’t displaying is crucial to troubleshooting and ensuring your campaigns reach the right audience.
If you’re struggling to get your Bing Ads to show and want professional help, check out our Bing Ads Management Services to ensure your campaigns run smoothly and deliver real results.
In this article, we’ll break down the most common reasons your Bing Ads might not be showing and provide actionable solutions to get your ads back in front of potential customers.
Your Ads Are Under Review or Disapproved
Bing has strict policies regarding ad content, landing pages, and targeting. When you create a new ad or make significant changes, your ads typically go through a review process to ensure compliance.
Ad review delay: New ads often take up to 24 hours to be reviewed. During this period, they won’t appear in search results.
Disapproved ads: Ads can be disapproved for various reasons, including inappropriate content, misleading claims, or prohibited products.
Solution:
Check the “Ads & Extensions” tab in your Bing Ads account. If your ads are disapproved, Bing will provide a reason. Adjust your ad copy or landing page to comply with their policies and resubmit.
Low or Inactive Budget
Budgeting issues are a frequent culprit when ads don’t show. If your campaign’s daily budget is too low, your ads may not compete in the auction, especially for high-cost keywords. Additionally, if your account has exhausted its monthly budget, Bing will stop showing your ads until the next billing cycle.
Solution:
Increase your daily budget for campaigns targeting competitive keywords.
Monitor spend to ensure you aren’t hitting limits too early in the day.
Consider adjusting bids or targeting to stretch your budget further.
Keyword Issues: Low Search Volume or Poor Match
Keywords are the backbone of your Bing Ads campaign. However, even well-chosen keywords might prevent ads from showing if they have low search volume, are too specific, or are matched incorrectly.
Low search volume: Keywords that rarely get searched will rarely trigger ads.
Match type mismatch: Using overly restrictive match types (like exact match) can limit impressions.
Negative keywords blocking your ads: Accidentally including negative keywords that overlap with your target terms can prevent your ads from appearing.
Solution:
Use Bing’s Keyword Planner to identify keywords with adequate search volume.
Reevaluate match types: broad match or phrase match can increase impressions without compromising relevance.
Regularly review your negative keyword list to ensure it isn’t blocking high-potential queries.
Low Ad Rank
Bing determines which ads to show based on ad rank, which is calculated using your bid amount and Quality Score. Quality Score factors include expected click-through rate (CTR), ad relevance, and landing page experience. Even if your budget is sufficient, a low ad rank can prevent your ads from appearing.
Solution:
Improve ad relevance by aligning your ad copy with keywords.
Optimize landing pages for user experience and relevance.
Increase bids strategically for highly competitive keywords.
Geographic or Audience Targeting Restrictions
Bing Ads allows advertisers to target specific locations and audiences. If your targeting settings are too narrow, your ads may never reach anyone.
Geo-targeting too restrictive: Targeting a small town or radius may limit visibility.
Audience targeting conflicts: If you exclude certain demographics while targeting others, your audience pool might shrink significantly.
Solution:
Expand your geographic targeting to reach more potential customers.
Revisit audience targeting to ensure you’re not unintentionally excluding your ideal users.
Use Bing’s “Estimated daily impressions” tool to see if your targeting settings are realistic.
Ad Scheduling or Dayparting Issues
Bing Ads allows you to schedule when your ads appear, a feature known as dayparting. While this can be effective for controlling when your ads show, incorrect scheduling can cause ads to not display at all.
Ads scheduled for off-hours or holidays may not show when users search.
Time zone mismatches between your account and target audience can result in ads appearing at unintended times.
Solution:
Review your ad schedule settings to ensure they align with your target audience’s peak hours.
Adjust time zones if necessary.
Consider running ads continuously at low bids if you want consistent visibility.
Low-Quality Landing Page Experience
Bing evaluates the relevance and quality of your landing pages. Ads linking to poor-quality, slow-loading, or misleading pages are less likely to show.
Indicators of low-quality landing pages include:
Slow load times or technical errors
Lack of relevant content matching ad copy
Excessive pop-ups or intrusive ads
Solution:
Optimize landing pages for speed and mobile usability.
Ensure content aligns with the ad and keyword.
Remove unnecessary distractions and focus on conversions.
Campaign or Account-Level Issues
Sometimes the problem isn’t your ads or keywords but the campaign settings or account status:
Paused campaigns: Ads won’t show if campaigns, ad groups, or ads are paused.
Billing issues: Unpaid invoices or declined payment methods can suspend your account.
Account suspensions: Violating Bing’s policies at the account level can stop all ads from running.
Solution:
Confirm that your campaigns and ad groups are active.
Verify billing information and ensure payments are processed.
Check account notifications for any suspensions or alerts.
Competition and Auction Dynamics
Bing Ads operates on an auction system, and sometimes your ads aren’t showing simply because competitors outbid you or have higher Quality Scores.
High competition keywords can price out smaller advertisers.
Sudden increases in bids from competitors can temporarily suppress your ad visibility.
Solution:
Use bid adjustments and dayparting to optimize when and where your ads appear.
Focus on long-tail keywords with less competition.
Improve Quality Score to reduce reliance on high bids.
Device Targeting Issues
Bing Ads allows advertisers to target specific devices: desktop, tablet, or mobile. While device targeting can help optimize campaigns, misconfigurations can prevent ads from showing to significant portions of your audience.
Mobile-only campaigns: Ads will not appear on desktops or tablets if restricted.
Device bid adjustments: Excessively low bids for certain devices can reduce ad visibility.
Solution:
Review device targeting to ensure you are reaching all relevant users.
Use bid adjustments instead of exclusions when possible, allowing flexibility while controlling costs.
Analyze performance metrics by device and optimize accordingly.
Low Click-Through Rate (CTR) Signals
Bing Ads takes historical ad performance into account. Ads with consistently low CTRs may be deprioritized in auctions because Bing interprets them as less relevant to users.
Poorly written ad copy or irrelevant headlines reduce CTR.
Generic ads that don’t match the user’s search intent are likely to be ignored.
Solution:
Test multiple ad variations to identify high-performing copy.
Incorporate targeted keywords in headlines and descriptions.
Use ad extensions (sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets) to increase visibility and CTR.
Overly Restrictive Ad Extensions
While ad extensions improve visibility and CTR, overly complex or misconfigured extensions can occasionally prevent ads from showing correctly.
Sitelinks that link to inactive or irrelevant pages may cause disapproval.
Structured snippet or callout extensions that violate Bing’s policies can trigger review delays.
Solution:
Regularly audit ad extensions for relevance and compliance.
Simplify extensions initially, then expand once your ads are stable.
Ensure all links in extensions are functional and direct users to the correct page.
Audience Segmentation Conflicts
Bing Ads offers sophisticated audience targeting, such as remarketing lists, in-market audiences, and custom audiences. Incorrect segmentation can unintentionally limit your audience pool.
Applying multiple layers of restrictive targeting can exclude most potential viewers.
Audience overlap with negative targeting lists can prevent ads from serving.
Solution:
Review audience settings to ensure they complement, not conflict with, other targeting criteria.
Start with broader audiences, then refine using performance data.
Use Bing’s audience insights to understand potential reach and make informed adjustments.
Technical Issues on Your Website
Sometimes, the problem isn’t your Bing Ads account but your website or server. Bing monitors landing pages for functionality, and technical issues can reduce ad visibility or prevent approval.
Broken links, 404 errors, or server downtime can lead to disapproval.
Slow page load speeds reduce Quality Score and ad eligibility.
HTTPS misconfigurations or security warnings may prevent ads from linking to your site.
Solution:
Test all landing pages for technical functionality and speed.
Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or Bing Webmaster Tools to identify issues.
Ensure proper SSL certificates and secure connections for all landing pages.
Using Inactive or Expired Keywords
Bing Ads allows keyword targeting with start and end dates. If your keywords are expired or inactive, your ads won’t appear, even if your campaign is active.
Keywords may expire if set for a limited-time promotion.
Low-performing or paused keywords will not trigger ads.
Solution:
Audit your keyword list regularly to confirm active status.
Reactivate or replace expired or paused keywords with relevant alternatives.
Schedule keyword campaigns carefully to match promotions or seasonal demand.
Seasonal or Search Volume Fluctuations
Even if your campaign is set up perfectly, external factors like seasonal trends or sudden drops in search volume can affect visibility.
Certain keywords see large drops in search volume outside peak seasons.
Changes in user behavior due to events, holidays, or industry trends may temporarily reduce impressions.
Solution:
Use historical search volume data to anticipate seasonal drops.
Adjust budgets and bids during low-demand periods to conserve spend.
Introduce new keywords or campaigns to capture alternative search traffic.
Account Health and Policy Violations
Bing takes account health seriously. Violations of policies at the account level can prevent all ads from serving, even if individual ads are compliant.
Suspended accounts due to repeated disapproved ads.
Payment issues, fraudulent activity, or policy violations.
Misuse of automated tools or scripts violating Bing’s Terms of Service.
Solution:
Review account notifications and resolve any outstanding issues promptly.
Ensure compliance with Bing Ads policies at all levels.
Avoid risky or gray-area tactics that could trigger account review or suspension.
Ad Rotation and Experiment Settings
If you are running ad experiments or using ad rotation settings incorrectly, certain ads may be suppressed or delayed.
Ads set to rotate evenly may see reduced impressions for low-performing variations.
Experiment campaigns with low traffic allocation may not appear often.
Solution:
Monitor ad rotation performance and adjust rotation settings based on CTR and conversion metrics.
Allocate sufficient traffic to experiments to ensure meaningful data.
Pause low-performing variations to improve overall visibility.
Bid Strategy Limitations
Bing Ads offers multiple bid strategies, such as Manual CPC, Enhanced CPC, and Target CPA. Choosing the wrong strategy for your campaign goals can limit ad visibility.
Target CPA or automated bidding may restrict impressions if goals are too aggressive.
Manual CPC campaigns with bids too low may never win auctions.
Solution:
Select bid strategies that align with campaign objectives and market competition.
Monitor performance and adjust bids or strategy settings as necessary.
Consider experimenting with automated bidding after establishing baseline performance metrics.
Practical Steps to Diagnose and Fix Ads Not Showing
When your ads aren’t showing, it’s important to systematically troubleshoot the issue. Here’s a step-by-step approach:
Check campaign and ad group status: Ensure all campaigns, ad groups, and ads are active.
Review disapproval notifications: Fix any policy violations immediately.
Audit targeting and budgets: Confirm geographic, device, and audience settings are appropriate.
Analyze keywords and bids: Adjust low-performing or low-volume keywords, increase bids if necessary.
Examine landing pages: Optimize for speed, relevance, and usability.
Check competition and auction insights: Understand if high competition is limiting impressions.
Review account health and billing: Resolve any payment issues or account alerts.
By following these steps, you can identify the root cause of your ads not showing and implement solutions that improve visibility, clicks, and ROI.
Final Thoughts
Bing Ads can be a powerful platform for driving targeted traffic, but ads not showing is a common pain point for advertisers. Most issues stem from account settings, keyword selection, ad quality, or policy compliance. Systematic troubleshooting and ongoing optimization are essential for maintaining high visibility and campaign performance.
Understanding the full spectrum of potential issues—from ad disapproval and low budgets to technical website problems and targeting restrictions—empowers you to take proactive measures and avoid wasted ad spend.
When you align budget, targeting, ad quality, and account health, your Bing Ads campaigns will not only show consistently but also deliver the results your business deserves.
Don’t let technical issues or campaign misconfigurations hold your ads back. Take control of your Bing Ads performance today with our expert Bing Ads services and start driving traffic and conversions with confidence.
About Marketing LTB
Marketing LTB is a full-service marketing agency offering over 50 specialized services across 100+ industries. Our seasoned team leverages data-driven strategies and a full-funnel approach to maximize your ROI and fuel business growth.
About the author, Bill Nash
Bill Nash is the CMO of Marketing LTB with over a decade of experience, he has driven growth for Fortune 500 companies and startups through data-driven campaigns and advanced marketing technologies. He has written over 400 pieces of content about marketing, covering topics like marketing tips, guides, AI in advertising, advanced PPC strategies, conversion optimization, and others.