The news: Microsoft Advertising now enforces policy compliance at the asset level—ad headlines, descriptions, and images will be reviewed individually. If one element violates policy, the rest of the ad can stay live, as long as the minimum required approved assets remain, per MarTech.

Shifting to asset-level ad reviews reduces friction and improves campaign effectiveness. It’s a strategic move from blunt ad rejections to surgical enforcement.

Cleaning up existing ad inventory while refining policies: The addition of granular assessments are part of a larger push to improve Microsoft’s ad ecosystem. 

The company removed over 1 billion ads in 2024 for policy violations as part of its annual trust and safety review, per Search Engine Land. About 75,000 ad accounts were banned for severe policy violations. 

After review, 1.5 million ad rejections were overturned, and Microsoft reinstated 20,000 accounts based on 72,000 appeals.

“We’re investing in smarter systems and clearer rules to keep the ecosystem clean for everyone,” Microsoft stated in its annual trust and safety summary.

Smarter adtech equals fewer disruptions: With granular ad reviews, marketers and brands gain flexibility, reducing downtime and preserving ad performance during policy reviews.

Assessing headlines, descriptions, and images independently means approved ad elements  stay live while advertisers make adjustments instead of a complete overhaul.

Key takeaway: Marketers should embrace modular creative strategies, ensuring each individual asset is in compliance. Build campaigns with redundancy in approved elements to maintain uptime, and monitor flagged assets to quickly respond and ensure ad integrity.