- Date
- October 1, 2026
- Kind
- Technology shift
- Significance
- Low
Microsoft Advertising said in its August 2026 product roundup, published on August 31, that from October 1, 2026 the “Max CPC setting will no longer be available when creating new non-portfolio campaigns”.
What changes
- The change applies to new standalone campaigns that use Maximize Conversions with a Target CPA, Maximize Conversion Value with a Target ROAS, or Maximize Clicks.
- Campaigns created before October 1, 2026 that already use Max CPC keep the setting, and Max CPC remains available for new and existing campaigns that use portfolio bid strategies.
Microsoft’s reasoning
The post says Max CPC “provides conflicting instructions to the system”: when a cost-per-click cap overrides a CPA or ROAS target, advertisers can miss their goals even when the cap is above the average cost per click. Microsoft recommends managing performance through budgets, targets, conversion value rules and seasonality adjustments, and suggests running experiments to test the effect of removing the cap. The same post says it is adding average target metrics to the Campaign overview, Campaign grid and portfolio bid strategies.
Why it matters
It is a small change with a clear direction: less manual control over bids in return for the platform steering to a target. Teams that used a cost-per-click cap as a safety limit on new campaigns will need another guardrail, such as a tighter budget or a portfolio strategy.
What happened next
The change took effect on October 1, 2026, according to Microsoft's post. Microsoft Learn documentation seen in search results still described Max CPC as an option and may not yet reflect it.