# Targeting and audience audit on Microsoft Advertising

> Tier: recipe. Operating recipe: real tool sequence, core rules, known traps.

Microsoft Advertising: Read configured inclusions, exclusions and audience references separately from reported demographics.

**Intent.** Read configured inclusions, exclusions and audience references separately from reported demographics.

## When to use

- The user requests targeting and audience audit for a selected Microsoft Advertising account.

## When not to use

- Inferring production delivery or account eligibility from successful sandbox configuration.

## Sources

Required: Microsoft Advertising

## Preconditions

- External assistant access is not enabled yet. This documented workflow requires provider clearance and an enabled, authorized workspace; do not attempt to bypass the access gate.
- Read bing_get_setup_guide and use only the capabilities enabled for this account.
- The account is ticked in the dashboard, confirmed via list_accounts.

## Inputs

- `window`: Analysis window. Default: last 30 days.

## Procedure

1. List campaigns and their ad groups or ad squads. — tools: `bing_get_campaigns`, `bing_get_ad_groups`
2. Read the actual targeting configuration and resolve its audience references. — tools: `bing_get_targeting`, `bing_get_audiences`

## Decision rules

- **When** An audience is empty or an identifier cannot be resolved → **conclude** Report the missing evidence; an audience object does not prove matched members or delivery.
- **When** Targeting differs from demographic performance → **conclude** Keep configuration and observed reach separate; expansion and privacy thresholds can explain differences.

## Evidence requirements

- Every figure carries its account, metric and window.
- Anything below a readable sample size is reported as unjudged, not as zero.

## Human approval boundary

- The readout changes nothing. Any change it motivates goes through Safe Writes: preview, human confirmation, then apply.

## Failure modes

- Read native criterion types and all pages; one targeting response may not cover every criterion.
- Do not upload customer identifiers as part of a configuration audit.

## Output

- **Readout**: The figures, with windows and accounts named.
- **Flags**: What deserves a deeper skill or a human decision.