Quick summary: from 1 October 2026, you will no longer be able to set a Max CPC (a cap on what you pay for a single click) when you build a new Bing Ads campaign using the platform’s three most popular automatic bidding settings. Your existing campaigns keep the option. New ones won’t have it, unless you use one of three alternatives covered below. Here’s what that actually means if you’re running Bing Ads for a small or local business.
What is Max CPC, and what’s actually changing?
Max CPC is the simplest setting in Bing Ads. You tell Microsoft “never charge me more than this for one click,” and it never does, no matter what else the algorithm is doing. It’s the closest thing Bing Ads has to a hard stop on spending.
Microsoft has confirmed on its own advertising blog that this option is being switched off for new campaigns. In its own words, the “Max CPC setting will no longer be available when creating new non-portfolio campaigns using Maximize Conversions (with Target CPA), Maximize Conversion Value (with Target ROAS), or Maximize Clicks.” (Source: Microsoft Advertising) Those three settings are the ones most small businesses use, because you set a goal and Microsoft’s system adjusts your bids automatically to try to hit it.
When does this happen, and who is affected?
The cutoff is 1 October 2026. Anything you’ve already built before that date keeps its Max CPC setting exactly as it is. It’s only new campaigns you create from that date onwards that lose the option, and only if you’re using one of the three automatic bidding settings named above.
You can still get a click price cap on a new campaign in three specific setups: a portfolio strategy (one bidding setting shared across several campaigns), Target Impression Share (aimed at how often your ad shows rather than clicks or sales), or Enhanced CPC (where you still set your own bids but Microsoft can nudge them up or down). (Source: Search Engine Land) As Navah Hopkins, Microsoft’s Advertising Product Liaison, confirmed: “Target impression share, eCPC, and Portfolio bidding strategies will retain the ability to add a Max CPC.” (Source: PPC Land)
Why is Microsoft doing this?
Microsoft’s own explanation is that a Max CPC cap can work against the target you’ve set alongside it. If you cap what a click can cost while also asking the system to hit a specific cost per sale or return on spend, those two instructions can pull against each other, and Microsoft says that can mean missing your overall goal even when the cap looks generous. (Source: Microsoft Advertising) In plain English, Microsoft’s view is that a hard click price cap can stop its own system from bidding high enough to actually hit the sales or revenue target you set, so removing the cap should let the algorithm do its job properly. The story has also been covered by PPC Land and Search Engine Journal, and it lands only a few weeks before most local businesses ramp up spend for Christmas trading.
Why this matters if you’re a small or local business
For a lot of the local businesses I work with, a Max CPC cap is the setting you put in place once and then forget about, right up until the day it saves you from an expensive mistake. It’s your last line of defence if your conversion tracking breaks, a competitor suddenly bids aggressively, or a week gets unusually competitive and click prices spike. Take that cap away on a new campaign, and Microsoft’s system is free to chase your sales or revenue target with no upper limit on what a single click costs. That’s fine if your conversion tracking is accurate and your target is realistic. If either of those is off, costs can climb fast with nothing stopping them.
What should you do before 1 October?
Check your conversion tracking first. If the algorithm is going to have full control over what it pays per click, you want to know that every conversion it’s chasing is real and valued correctly. I gave the same advice when Google made a similar change to its own automatic bidding in July, and it applies here too. (See our post on Google’s Smart Bidding change.)
If you rely on Max CPC as a safety net, check whether a portfolio strategy or Target Impression Share would work for your account instead, since both keep the option. If you’re launching a genuinely new campaign after 1 October and neither fits, start your target conservatively and check your search terms and click costs daily rather than weekly until you trust how the account is behaving.
Quick answers
Does this affect my existing Bing Ads campaigns? No. Anything built before 1 October 2026 keeps its Max CPC setting.
What bidding options still allow a click price cap after 1 October? Portfolio bid strategies, Target Impression Share, and Enhanced CPC.
Is Google doing anything similar? Yes. Google made a comparable change to Smart Bidding in July 2026, removing some manual controls in favour of automated targets. (See our earlier post, linked above.)
Should I panic and stop using automatic bidding? No, but you should check your conversion tracking is accurate before you launch new campaigns without a spending cap, and watch performance closely in the first few weeks.
This is exactly the kind of change that’s easy to miss if you’re running your own account alongside everything else in the business. It doesn’t need you to overhaul anything today, just to know it’s coming and have your tracking in order before it lands.