Does Microsoft Ads charge me for bot clicks, and how do I get a credit for invalid clicks?

TofuAnswer by the Tofu team · checked

Black-and-white photo of a kitchen sieve sifting a paper bag of fine powder, with a sifted pile on a dark table

Mostly no. Microsoft says you pay only for standard-quality clicks: it filters out many low-quality and invalid clicks before you're charged, and automatically credits bot clicks it finds later. For clicks you think it missed, contact Microsoft Advertising Support and ask for an invalid-click investigation, with dates, campaigns and your evidence. A credit can take up to a month to appear, as a line per campaign on your statement or invoice. The Microsoft Advertising Agreement gives you 60 days to dispute a charge.

As of November 2026.

What counts as a low-quality or invalid click?

Microsoft puts every click into one of three groups: standard-quality, low-quality or invalid. Standard-quality clicks are "most likely from potential customers." Low-quality and invalid clicks "typically don't result in conversions or value to your business," and often come from spiders, robots, questionable sources or test servers. Microsoft's reporting reference splits filtered clicks further: general ones caught by "deny lists and activity-based detection," and sophisticated ones that "use sophisticated means to appear valid."

Am I billed for low-quality clicks?

No. Microsoft's help says "You only get billed for and pay for standard-quality clicks," and its reporting reference says of low-quality clicks, "You are not billed for these clicks." If you're billed for clicks it later finds invalid, your bill is adjusted. If it suspects clicks from "search engine robots, automated click tools, or other fraudulent means," it credits your account automatically.

One catch: Microsoft says clicks it credits after billing "will remain listed in your reports" as standard-quality clicks. So check your billing statement, not your reports, to see those credits.

Where do I see low-quality clicks in my reports?

Add the low-quality columns to a performance report. Microsoft's help article calls them Low-quality clicks and Low-quality click rate (%), added from the column modifier. Its API reference says the reporting screen labels them Low quality clicks (not charged), with Low quality clicks - general (not charged) and Low quality clicks - sophisticated (not charged) splits. Look for either name.

These clicks sit outside your normal Clicks count: Microsoft works out the rate as low-quality clicks divided by clicks plus low-quality clicks. For accounts that track conversions with UET, Microsoft also reports conversions that came from low-quality clicks.

How do I ask Microsoft for a credit?

Contact Microsoft Advertising Support and say you think you were billed for invalid clicks. Microsoft says "We can start an investigation to determine whether a credit should be made to your account." Its support page offers chat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and phone support whose hours vary by location.

Microsoft doesn't publish a list of what to send. Two vendors that sell click-fraud tools suggest:

  • Polygraph says to give the dates and times of the clicks, why you think they're fraudulent, the IP addresses, the campaign IDs and the keywords. It also suggests asking your Microsoft account manager to file the request for you.
  • ClickCease points to placement reports that show publishers with high click-through rates and no conversions, and to server logs that match click times with IP addresses and user agents.

For B2B, add what your CRM shows for those clicks: no form fills, or only junk ones.

How long does a credit take, and where does it show?

Microsoft says that after the investigation starts, "it can take up to a month" before you see a credit on your monthly statement or invoice. If it confirms the clicks were invalid, it credits their cost plus any related taxes. Credits are processed through the month but show as one line item per campaign. The credit pays any balance you owe first, and anything left goes toward future charges. If your billing setup changed, such as a new SAP ID, the credit comes as a credit memo instead. To find statements and invoices, see how to get Microsoft Advertising invoices.

Is there a deadline to dispute invalid clicks?

The only one Microsoft publishes is the general 60-day limit for disputing a charge. The Microsoft Advertising Agreement (August 2025 online terms) says you "must dispute charges within 60 (sixty) days following the date on which such charge was posted to your account." Microsoft's help pages give no separate deadline for invalid-click claims, so raise suspicious clicks as soon as you see them.

What won't Microsoft credit?

Microsoft says it doesn't issue credits for "poor ad performance or ROI, system or tool downtime, test accounts or campaigns, and bank overdraft fees." Its credit rules talk about invalid clicks, not bad leads. If real people click and send junk form fills, fix the form side too. The form checks in how to stop spam and fake leads from Google Ads, such as a bot check, double opt-in and server-side validation, work whatever ad platform sent the visitor.

Do I get a refund if I close my account?

Yes, if you have a refund-eligible balance. Microsoft says that if your account is deactivated and a balance is refund-eligible, including one from an invalid-click credit, it automatically tries to refund it. Its credits article says the refund goes to the payment method you paid with; its click-quality article says your primary payment method. Cards and PayPal take 1 to 2 business days after processing, bank or wire transfer 10 business days, and checks 4 to 6 weeks. Microsoft adds that refund requests "can take up to 90 working days to process." If you paid by SEPA Direct Debit, check or wire transfer, contact Support to start a manual refund.

Does Microsoft filter bot clicks on the Audience Network too?

Its billing rules cover every click, but the outside audit covers search. In a letter dated January 31, 2025, the Media Rating Council (MRC) said its board voted to continue Microsoft Advertising's accreditation for "Desktop and Mobile Web Paid Search Clicks" and the sophisticated invalid traffic filtering applied to them. The letter doesn't mention Audience Network clicks, and the MRC's list of accredited services still links this letter and lists only search clicks and that filtering for Microsoft Advertising.

In a July 2025 Microsoft Q&A thread, an advertiser targeting by LinkedIn industry and job function said low-quality Audience Network sites used up their budgets within 30 minutes. A reply signed by a Microsoft Advertising support specialist said Microsoft "can't guarantee every instance of low quality, fraudulent activity or suspicious traffic will be caught." To keep search ads off those sites, see how to stop Microsoft Ads showing B2B search ads on the Audience Network.

How do I stop paying for the same bad clicks?

Block the sources. In the Website URL (Publisher) report, find sites with clicks and no conversions, and add them to your website exclusions (up to 2,500 URLs). Search campaigns can't exclude Bing, Yahoo or AOL search traffic, but they can exclude audience traffic.

To block IP addresses, go to Campaigns, check the campaign, select Edit, then Other changes, and pick IP address exclusions from the Campaign settings menu. Microsoft allows 100 IPv4 addresses or ranges per campaign, with a wildcard only in the last part (such as 127.0.0.*). Keep conversion tracking working too, since Microsoft says a sudden change in conversion rate can be a sign of invalid clicks: see why a UET tag isn't recording conversions.

Do I need a click-fraud tool?

Not to get a credit: Microsoft can investigate when you ask. Detection tools such as ClickCease (from CHEQ) and Polygraph flag suspect clicks on your ads, and Polygraph says it puts the details for a refund claim into a CSV file. ClickCease itself calls support tickets "a necessary but fundamentally limited tool," and argues that "the most significant budget waste comes from low-quality publisher placements, not random bot clicks." With 100 IP exclusions per campaign, IP blocking only goes so far. To judge whether a tool pays for itself, see are click fraud tools worth it for B2B Google Ads.

Sources (11)

Ask Tofu next

Pick a question and Tofu Ads Agent answers it in chat.

Related answers

More on