# Microsoft Ads Checker (`m3web/microsoft-ads-checker`) Actor

Helps marketers instantly discover which companies are not advertising on Microsoft/Bing — so you can reach out and offer your services! Perfect for lead generation and prospecting. Simple. Fast. Insightful. Turn ad transparency into new opportunities.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/m3web/microsoft-ads-checker.md
- **Developed by:** [M3Web](https://apify.com/m3web) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, SEO tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.50 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## 🕵️‍♂️ Microsoft Ads Checker

**Microsoft Ads Checker** helps marketers instantly discover which companies are *not* advertising on Microsoft/Bing — so you can reach out and offer your services! 🚀

### 💡 What It Does

This Actor checks if a website (domain) **has or had ads listed in Microsoft's public Ad Library** — covering ads served across the Bing/Microsoft Advertising network.

Just give us your list of domains — paste them or upload a file — and the Actor will:

- 🔍 **Clean your input list** (removes `https://`, `www.`, paths, query strings)
- 🧩 **Combine duplicates** into a single domain check
- 🌍 **Run the ads check** for each unique domain
- ✅ Return `hasAds: true` or `false`, plus which advertiser account is behind the ads, for every domain

Unlike a simple keyword search, the Actor doesn't just trust that a domain's name showed up somewhere in an ad's text — it checks each matching ad's actual **destination URL** against your domain, so a search for `otto.de` won't get falsely counted as a match just because an unrelated competitor's ad happens to mention "Otto" in its copy.

### ⚙️ Input Options

#### 🗂 Your domains

Give us your list of domains in whichever way is easiest for you — you can even use both at once, they'll be combined automatically:

- 📝 **Paste them directly** — one domain per line, hundreds or thousands at once. Use domains only (like `example.com`), not company or brand names.
- 📤 **Or upload a file** — a **JSON**, **CSV**, or **Excel (.xlsx)** file that already has your domains in it. Legacy `.xls` files aren't supported — just re-save as `.xlsx` first.
  - Two simple steps: 1) upload your file, 2) tell us the column name (CSV/Excel) or key name (JSON) where your domains live — for example `domain` or `website`
  - Works with nested JSON too, using dot notation (e.g. `site.domain`)
  - If a row has more than one domain (an array, or several domains separated by a comma/semicolon in one cell), all of them are checked

#### 🗓 Date range

Click open the **"Date range"** section to also check ad activity within a specific recent window — matching filters you'd find on Microsoft's own Ad Library site:

- **Any time** (default) — has this domain *ever* had ads? This is always checked, regardless of the setting below, and is the authoritative `hasAds` answer in your results.
- **Last week** / **Last month** — adds a *second* check scoped to that window, reported separately as `adsFoundInDateRange`.

**Why two separate results?** Testing showed Microsoft's date-filtered search draws from a much smaller pool of records than the unfiltered search — a company known to be running hundreds of ads continuously can show almost none when a date filter is applied, even for a full closed month. So a date-scoped `false` does **not** mean "no ads that month" — it may just mean the API's date index didn't happen to include that record. Because of this, `hasAds` always reflects the reliable all-time check, and `adsFoundInDateRange` is provided as an additional, best-effort data point rather than something that can override it.

### 📊 What You Get Back

For every domain, one row with:

- `hasAds` — the authoritative true/false: has this domain ever had ads (always an unfiltered, all-time check)
- `advertiserName` / `advertiserId` — the Microsoft Advertising account behind the matched ad(s), when found
- `matchedAdCount` — how many of the inspected all-time ads actually belong to this domain
- `dateRangePreset`, `startDateUsed`, `endDateUsed` — what time window (if any) was additionally checked
- `adsFoundInDateRange`, `matchedAdCountInDateRange` — the secondary, date-scoped result (only populated when "Last week" or "Last month" is selected — see the caveat above)
- `checkedAt` — timestamp of the check

### 💰 Pricing

Pay‑Per‑Event model — you pay only for the number of unique domains checked.

### 🎯 Ideal For

Marketers, agencies, and lead‑gen professionals who want to:

- Identify businesses not running Microsoft/Bing Ads (ever or currently)
- Offer ad campaign setup or optimization services
- Build targeted outreach lists fast

### 🧠 Example Use Case

Paste (or upload) a list of company websites → get a table showing which ones have or had ads on Microsoft/Bing → contact those without ads to pitch your services.

***

**Simple. Fast. Insightful.**
Turn ad transparency into new marketing opportunities! ✨

***

👉 Looking for similar tools? Try the [Google Ads Checker](https://apify.com/m3web/google-ads-checker) or [Meta Ads Checker](https://apify.com/m3web/meta-ads-checker).

# Actor input Schema

## `domains` (type: `array`):

Paste one or more website domains, one per line — for example: **example.com**. Use domains only (not company or brand names) — Microsoft's Ad Library matches on advertiser accounts, not domains directly, and results are filtered against each ad's destination URL. You can leave this empty if you're uploading a file instead below.

## `uploadedDomainsFile` (type: `string`):

Upload a **JSON**, **CSV**, or **Excel (.xlsx)** file instead of pasting domains above. **Two steps:** 1) Upload your file here. 2) In the field right below this one, type the name of the column (CSV/Excel) or key (JSON) where your domains are — for example, if your file has a column called `website`, type `website` there. Legacy `.xls` files aren't supported — please re-save as `.xlsx` first.

## `domainKeyField` (type: `string`):

Only needed if you uploaded a file above — tell us where your domains are. **Examples:** if your CSV/Excel column is titled `domain`, type `domain`; if it's titled `website`, type `website`. For JSON files with nested data like `{ "site": { "domain": "example.com" } }`, type `site.domain`. Leave this as the default `domain` if your file already uses that name.

## `dateRange` (type: `string`):

Limit the ads search to a specific time window, matching the same filters on Microsoft's own Ad Library site. Leave as 'Any time' to check whether the domain has ever had ads.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "domains": [
    "example.com"
  ],
  "domainKeyField": "domain",
  "dateRange": "any"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

No description

## `downloadCsv` (type: `string`):

No description

## `downloadExcel` (type: `string`):

No description

## `totalDomainsChecked` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "domains": [
        "example.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("m3web/microsoft-ads-checker").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "domains": ["example.com"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("m3web/microsoft-ads-checker").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "domains": [
    "example.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call m3web/microsoft-ads-checker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,m3web/microsoft-ads-checker"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/5jKXid0M0WSTp2TbZ/builds/D5i71vUiHASc3QPsO/openapi.json