Ads not showing for our brand keywords while only one competitor's ads appear consistently

For issues where brand or product ads suddenly stop showing while a competitor’s ads consistently appear, and basic checks (campaign/ad group/keywords active, budget and billing valid, no disapprovals) are already done, the next step is to engage Microsoft Advertising Support so they can review serving diagnostics, auction logs, and any account-specific restrictions.

Use the Microsoft Advertising Customer Support Portal as the single access point for submitting this type of technical issue. This scenario falls under:

• Observed ad serving issues (ads not showing for expected brand/product queries)
• Traffic quality or inventory quality questions (if only specific competitors appear)
• Potential UI or API/product issues (if this behavior started recently without changes on the account side)

In the support request, include:

1. Exact brand and product keywords where ads are not showing.
2. Example queries and locations, plus date/time ranges when the issue occurs.
3. Campaign and ad group names, and any recent changes made 2–4 weeks ago.
4. Screenshots of search results showing only competitor ads.

The support team can then:

• Check for hidden policy or editorial issues not surfaced as explicit disapprovals.
• Verify auction participation and whether bids/quality thresholds changed for those brand terms.
• Investigate any technical issues with ad serving or distribution on the Microsoft Advertising Network.

Submit this via the Microsoft Advertising Customer Support Portal so the Microsoft Advertising support team can directly investigate and respond.

References:

• Microsoft Advertising support team
• Bing Ads API Overview