In this guide
- Microsoft's UET tag supports a consent mode like Google's: a default state, then an update when the visitor chooses.
- Many consent platforms set both Google and Microsoft signals. Check yours does.
- Server-side, gate the Microsoft tag on the visitor's consent state.
If you advertise on Microsoft Advertising (Bing, and Microsoft's partner network), your visitors' consent choices apply there too. Microsoft has been asking advertisers to send consent signals for visitors in regions such as the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, following the pattern Google set. This page explains the signals, how to set them and how to test. Microsoft changes its requirements, so check its current help pages. For Google's side see Consent Mode v2.
What the signal does
The UET tag can start with a default consent state and then be updated. With ad_storage denied, the tag does not use cookies for advertising and may send limited data. When the visitor accepts, you update the state to granted and normal measurement resumes. Microsoft describes the exact behaviour, including what is modelled, in its documentation.
3 things to remember
Scroll and the points stack up.
Microsoft's UET tag supports a consent mode like Google's: a default state, then an update when the visitor chooses.
Many consent platforms set both Google and Microsoft signals. Check yours does.
Server-side, gate the Microsoft tag on the visitor's consent state.
How to set it
Choose a consent platform that supports Microsoft
Check its documentation for UET consent mode.
Set the default before the tag loads
Denied for regions that require opt-in, granted elsewhere if your policy allows.
Update on choice
The platform calls the UET consent update when the visitor accepts or declines.
Check the UET tag in Tag Manager
Use the template or your own code, with the consent settings enabled.
Test
Decline and accept in a private window and watch the tag's requests.
Example calls
window.uetq = window.uetq || [];
window.uetq.push('consent', 'default', { ad_storage: 'denied' });
// after the visitor accepts
window.uetq.push('consent', 'update', { ad_storage: 'granted' });Treat this as an illustration. Use the calls your consent platform or Microsoft's current documentation provides.
Runs on your domain, anywhere
Your tracking runs on your own domain, so a visit from any country is handled the same way.
Server-side
If you send Microsoft conversions from a server container, the visitor's consent state should decide whether the tag fires and which identifiers it uses. Add a consent check to the tag or trigger. Click IDs (msclkid) can be restored with Open Tracked's Click ID Restorer (every plan), and Cookie Keeper keeps cookies alive, both only for visitors who allowed them. See Safari removes click IDs.
Common problems
Why consent for Microsoft gets overlooked
Most marketers set up consent for Google and Meta and forget the smaller platform. Microsoft Advertising often delivers a modest share of paid traffic, so the gap does not show up in daily reports. It shows up when a regulator, a client or a platform audit asks which tags ran before consent. A UET tag that fires on every page with no consent check is easy to find and easy to fix, so fix it before someone else finds it.
The simplest approach is to treat every advertising tag the same way. One consent decision from your banner should reach Google, Meta, TikTok, Microsoft and any others, through Tag Manager consent settings or triggers. Then adding a platform means attaching the same consent setting, not designing a new process. Write that rule in your tracking documentation, so new tags follow it by default.
Terms you will see
- UET
- Universal Event Tracking, Microsoft Advertising's tag.
- ad_storage
- The signal that says whether advertising storage is allowed.
- msclkid
- The click ID Microsoft adds to ad links.
- Consent platform
- The tool that shows a banner and records the visitor's choice.
- Default state
- The consent value used before the visitor chooses.
Keep an eye on the numbers after you add the signal. Visitors who decline advertising cookies will no longer be measured as before, so Microsoft Advertising conversions can fall for traffic from consent regions. That is the intended effect of respecting the choice, not a fault. Compare the change with the share of visitors who decline in your banner report, and judge campaigns by your own order data rather than by the platform alone. Where Microsoft offers modelling for missing conversions, check its eligibility rules in the current documentation.
Ask Ari instead of digging through reports
Ari reads your tracking and ad data and answers in plain words.
Frequently asked questions
Does Microsoft Advertising support consent mode?
Yes. The UET tag can read a default and updated consent state. Check Microsoft's current documentation for details.
Is it the same as Google Consent Mode?
It follows a similar idea but is a separate signal. Set both if you advertise on both.
Do I need consent for Bing ads tracking?
Where the law requires consent for advertising cookies, yes.
Can my consent platform handle it?
Many can. Check its documentation.
What is msclkid?
The click ID Microsoft Advertising adds to ad links.
Do I need spreadsheets to read my results?
No. Once tracking is live, the Open Tracked analytics shows spend, revenue, ROAS and profit, and you can ask Ari, the built-in AI assistant, questions about your own numbers in plain words. Ari's allowance depends on your analytics plan.
Is Open Tracked different from Open Track or Open Space Track?
No. Open Tracked is the official name of our server-side tracking platform, and the website is opentracked.io. Many people search for it as Open Track, OpenTrack or Open Space Track. All of them lead to the same product: server-side Google Tag Manager hosting, first-party analytics and a CRM pipeline.
Fix your tracking at the source
Open Tracked hosts your server-side Tag Manager, keeps first-party cookies alive and shows what each ad is really worth.
The Open Tracked team
We build Open Tracked: server-side tracking hosting, analytics and the tools around them, for stores that spend on ads. Questions about this guide, or an idea for the next one?
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