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UET tag (Universal Event Tracking)

A UET tag is the Microsoft Advertising tracking code, added to every page of a site, that records what visitors do for conversion tracking and remarketing.

How it works

Microsoft Advertising measures conversions with its own tag, Universal Event Tracking. Microsoft calls it a prerequisite for conversion tracking and remarketing in paid search. One tag on every page records what visitors do. Conversion goals then set which of those actions count, much like a conversion action in Google Ads.

A store needs the tag to send the order amount. A goal can have no value, a fixed value or a variable one; a variable value needs extra code in the purchase event. Microsoft’s Performance Max needs a UET tag unless the store uploads offline conversions. Its Maximize Conversion Value strategy needs a revenue value: variable, or fixed above zero.

Importing campaigns from Google Ads can bring the conversion goals over as well; the import lists them under the UET tag. Our guide to Microsoft Shopping for European stores covers the setup, from feed to tag.

Where you see it

  • Microsoft Advertising: each UET tag has a tracking status (names as in the Microsoft Advertising API): Unverified until data arrives, which can take up to 24 hours; Active while data arrives; Inactive after 24 hours without data.
  • Google Tag Manager: a built-in Microsoft Bing Ads tag template.

Not to be confused with

  • Microsoft Merchant Center — holds the store’s product catalogue for Microsoft Shopping. The UET tag records what happens on the site.
  • Google Tag Manager — a container that can load the UET tag alongside Google’s tags. On its own, it measures nothing for Microsoft.

Right and wrong readings

  • Wrong: “We imported our conversion goals from Google Ads, so Microsoft tracks our orders.” Right: website goals count only what a UET tag on the site records.
  • Wrong: “The tag is Active, so revenue is tracked.” Right: Active means visitor data is arriving. The order amount arrives only if the purchase event sends a variable revenue value.

Sources