What Microsoft Advertising Has Asked Advertisers to Do
Microsoft Advertising (often referred to informally as Bing Ads) has publicly reminded advertisers to review and configure the email notification and communication settings inside their advertising accounts. The key message from Microsoft’s Ads Liaison, Navah Hopkins, is that this part of the platform is “underrated” but very important to ensure advertisers receive critical messages about their campaigns, billing, and account performance. (Search Engine Roundtable)
This isn’t just a casual suggestion — it’s about making sure you don’t miss alerts that could impact your campaigns, budgets, and campaign compliance, including:
- Monthly invoices and billing alerts
- Account notifications
- Policy rejection notices (when an ad or asset is disapproved)
- Optimization and performance tips
- Other action‑required messages from the platform (Search Engine Roundtable)
What the Email Settings Include
When you access the Email Settings / Preferences section in Microsoft Advertising, you’ll typically find options like:
1. Billing Alerts
Choose whether you want monthly invoices and billing notifications by email rather than having to download them from the dashboard. (Search Engine Roundtable)
2. Campaign & Account Alerts
This includes critical communication such as:
- Notifications when ads are rejected
- Budget or spending anomalies
- Account verification or status updates
Ensuring these are enabled helps advertisers react quickly to issues that might otherwise go unnoticed. (Search Engine Roundtable)
3. Performance & Optimization Emails
Microsoft can send you recommended steps to optimize campaigns or notify you about platform features that could improve results. (Search Engine Roundtable)
How to configure them (summary of steps):
- Click Settings (gear icon in Microsoft Advertising UI).
- Select Email preferences from the menu.
- Check the boxes for the alerts you want. (Search Engine Roundtable)
Why This Matters (Practical Impacts)
Missed Alerts Can Cost Money
If you don’t receive email alerts for:
- ad disapprovals
- policy violations
- billing problems
…you might miss issues that stop your ads running or waste budget without your knowledge. Some industry practitioners note that many less experienced advertisers don’t realise Microsoft sends these alerts until long after a problem has occurred. (LinkedIn)
Best Practice: Set Up Multiple Recipients
For teams or agencies, adding more than one email recipient (e.g., account manager + operations lead) ensures someone always gets the alert, reducing the risk of slipping on an important notification — especially in time‑sensitive situations like holiday campaigns.
Industry and Community Reactions
Mixed Views on Microsoft Ads Notifications
Some PPC (pay‑per‑click) professionals have criticised Microsoft’s email alerts and notification UX in forums:
- One marketer on LinkedIn called certain email alerts “scare tactics” — for example, warning about paused campaigns due to budget limits that were actually working as designed. Critics feel these alerts can confuse some advertisers and cause unnecessary panic. (LinkedIn)
This highlights a broader tension: while alerts are intended to be helpful, without clear context or explanation, they can be misinterpreted — especially by less experienced users.
Key Takeaways for Advertisers
Don’t ignore email settings — critical notifications about billing, disapprovals, and optimization are delivered by email and can prevent costly mistakes. (Search Engine Roundtable)
Check all preference boxes relevant to your workflows (invoices, performance tips, rejections, alerts) so you receive everything you need, not just what you think you want. (Search Engine Roundtable)✔ Add multiple email addresses if your account is managed by a team or agency — that way alerts reach the right people quickly. (Search Engine Roundtable)
Be aware that some industry pros find certain system alerts confusing, so it’s worth reviewing their content proactively rather than reacting when you receive them. (LinkedIn)
Additional Tips
- Regularly log into your Microsoft Advertising dashboard even if you receive emails, as some details might only appear there.
- Ensure your Microsoft account settings and contact details are up to date (via account.microsoft.com), since that’s the basis for delivery of email notifications. (support.microsoft.com)
- If you’re missing emails, check spam filters or allow‑list Microsoft’s domains in your email system.
- Here’s a comprehensive, case‑study‑driven overview of how organisations are reimagining email security for modern enterprises — featuring real deployments, tool advancements and expert commentary on evolving threats and defence strategies.
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Why Email Security Must Be Reimagined
Email remains the #1 attack vector in modern enterprise environments, but traditional approaches like Secure Email Gateways (SEGs) and signature‑based filters are no longer sufficient. Threat actors are using AI‑enhanced phishing, sophisticated social engineering, business email compromise (BEC) and multichannel attacks that bypass legacy defenses and exploit human trust, not just malicious attachments or obvious URLs. (Forbes)
Key trends affecting enterprise email security:
- AI-driven threats that generate highly convincing impersonation and phishing messages at scale. (Forbes)
- Multichannel intrusion techniques, where email interacts with platforms like Teams, Slack and SMS to execute complex attack campaigns. (Forbes)
- Increased sophistication of social engineering, requiring next‑generation analytics beyond simple block/allow lists. (SC Media)
Case Study 1 — Proofpoint’s Adaptive Email Security Deployment (Healthcare Sector)
Organisation: U.S. Healthcare Provider
Challenge: Rising phishing and BEC attacks that legacy tools failed to detect; existing email filters struggled with complex social engineering. (tronsitsolutions.com)
Solution: Deployment of Proofpoint’s advanced email protection platform, which combines:- Pre‑delivery semantic analysis using LLM‑based detection.
- Behavioral AI post‑delivery threat detection for high‑risk users.
- Real‑time contextual warnings for suspicious emails, even when no obvious payload is present. (Business Wire)
Outcome:
- Enhanced ability to block targeted phishing and fraud campaigns.
- Reduction in malicious emails reaching end users.
- Better visibility into phishing attempts and internal threat behavior.
Insight: Adaptive, AI‑centric defenses are now vital across sectors like healthcare, where sensitive data and compliance risks are high. (Business Wire)
Comment from a security leader:
“Adaptive email security sets a new standard by combining pre‑delivery detection with behavior‑aware post‑delivery analysis… this layered approach catches threats before and after they reach users.”
— Darren Lee, EVP & GM, Proofpoint. (Business Wire)
Case Study 2 — Topsec Email Security (Multi‑Industry Protection)
Organisation Examples: Engineering firm, Hospital, Agri‑sector enterprise
Challenge: Increasing volumes of spam and malicious email content with harmful links and attachments. (Topsec Cloud Solutions)
Solution: Deployment of Topsec Cloud Solutions for email security, including phishing awareness training, URL scanning and threat containment. (Topsec Cloud Solutions)
Results:- Significant reduction in malicious emails reaching user inboxes.
- Detailed dashboards showing daily email volumes and quarantined threats.
- Enhanced organisational understanding of email activity. (Topsec Cloud Solutions)
Client Feedback:
“Topsec’s email security gave us insights and control… reducing spam and malicious email before it reached users — essential for our operations.”
— IT lead, Waterman Moylan engineering. (Topsec Cloud Solutions)
Case Study 3 — Context‑Aware Detection with LLM Augmentation
Organisation: RavenMail (from independent research report)
Challenge: Highly targeted AI‑phishing campaigns that evade conventional detection. (n-coe.in)
Solution: Use of LLM‑based detection engines layered on legacy email security to understand context and detect stealthy threats. (n-coe.in)
Outcome:- 72% faster detection of threats.
- 64% quicker response times vs older security architectures.
- Lower false positives, making alerts more actionable. (n-coe.in)
Emerging Strategies & Best Practices
1. Behavioral & Contextual Analysis
Modern solutions model “normal” communication patterns and detect deviations rather than just scanning for known threat signatures — especially effective against spear phishing and subtle impersonation attempts. (SC Media)
Security expert insight:
Behavior‑based detection shrinks workloads for security teams and significantly reduces false positives — a major win for efficiency and risk reduction. (SC Media)
2. AI‑Native Defenses
Architectures that integrate real‑time AI detection at the browser or edge, plus continuous threat intelligence updates, outperform static, signature‑based models. (resonance.security)
3. Layered Protection Models
The modern enterprise must combine:
- Pre‑delivery threat analysis (semantic/AI, URL inspection)
- Delivery‑time scoring and sandboxing
- Behavioral post‑delivery defenses
- Human risk scoring and user coaching (Business Wire)
Expert & Industry Commentary
From SC Media Webcast Participants
Security leaders agree that:
- Legacy SEGs are insufficient for modern threats.
- AI and behavioral analytics are essential components of modern email security.
- Operational efficiency (quiet operations with fewer alerts) is now a key success measure. (SC Media)
Real‑World Threat Context
- Phishing, malicious URLs, and BEC attacks continue to escalate, with QR‑based “quishing” and other evasive techniques on the rise, demanding more robust email defenses. (www.trendmicro.com)
- Trend analysis shows email remains the dominant entry point for cyberattacks even as communications diversify across platforms. (Forbes)
Key Takeaways
Enterprise email security must evolve beyond SEGs to incorporate AI‑powered behavioral and contextual detection. (SC Media)
Real deployments in healthcare, engineering, and other sectors show measurable improvements when adaptive threat models are used. (Topsec Cloud Solutions)
AI algorithms and multi‑layered defenses (pre‑delivery and post‑delivery) are no longer optional — they are essential to counter AI‑assisted attacks. (Business Wire)
Next‑gen models reduce false positives and operational overhead while improving protection against sophisticated enterprise threats. (resonance.security)