Summary and recommendation
Microsoft Advertising user management can be run manually, but complexity usually increases with role models, licensing gates, and offboarding dependencies. This guide gives the exact mechanics and where automation has the biggest impact.
Microsoft Advertising manages user access through a fixed set of four predefined roles: Super Admin, Standard User, Advertiser Campaign Manager, and Viewer.
Roles are assigned at either the manager account (MCC) level or the individual advertiser account level, and there are no custom roles available.
Unlike every app that gates advanced permissions behind higher-tier plans, all four roles are available at no additional cost.
Access is granted via email invitation - the invited user must accept before any permissions take effect.
Quick facts
| Admin console path | Top navigation → Settings → Account access (or Accounts & Billing → Account access) |
| Admin console URL | Official docs |
| SCIM available | No |
| SCIM tier required | N/A |
| SSO prerequisite | No |
User types and roles
| Role | Permissions | Cannot do | Plan required | Seat cost | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Admin | Full access to all accounts under the manager account (MCC). Can manage users, billing, campaigns, and account settings across all linked accounts. | No additional plan required; available on all accounts. | No per-seat cost; Microsoft Advertising uses a pay-per-click billing model. | Super Admin role is only available at the manager account (MCC) level, not at individual advertiser account level. | |
| Standard User | Can create and manage campaigns, ads, keywords, and reports. Can view billing but cannot change payment methods or manage users. | Cannot manage users, change billing/payment methods, or link/unlink accounts. | No additional plan required. | No per-seat cost. | Standard Users at the manager account level have access to all linked accounts unless access is restricted to specific accounts. |
| Advertiser Campaign Manager | Can create and manage campaigns, ads, and keywords within assigned accounts. Can view reports. | Cannot manage users, billing, or account settings. | No additional plan required. | No per-seat cost. | This role is scoped to specific advertiser accounts; it does not grant manager account-level access. |
| Viewer | Read-only access to campaigns, reports, and account data. Cannot make any changes. | Cannot create, edit, or delete any campaigns, ads, keywords, or account settings. | No additional plan required. | No per-seat cost. | Viewer access is useful for reporting stakeholders but provides no editing capability. |
Permission model
- Model type: role-based
- Description: Microsoft Advertising uses a fixed set of predefined roles assigned at either the manager account (MCC) level or the individual advertiser account level. Roles determine what actions a user can perform across accounts. There are no custom roles; access is controlled by selecting from the available role options and specifying which accounts the user can access.
- Custom roles: No
- Custom roles plan: Not documented
- Granularity: Role-level granularity per account or manager account. Admins can restrict a user's access to specific accounts within a manager account hierarchy.
How to add users
- Sign in to Microsoft Advertising at ui.ads.microsoft.com.
- Click the gear/settings icon in the top navigation and select 'Account access'.
- Click 'Invite user'.
- Enter the user's email address.
- Select the appropriate role (Super Admin, Standard User, Advertiser Campaign Manager, or Viewer).
- If at a manager account level, optionally specify which accounts the user should access.
- Click 'Send' to send the invitation email.
- The invited user must accept the invitation via the emailed link before access is granted.
Required fields: Email address of the invitee, Role selection
Watch out for:
- The invited user must have or create a Microsoft account (personal or work/school) to accept the invitation.
- Invitations expire if not accepted; a new invitation must be sent if the link expires.
- A user can be associated with multiple accounts under different roles; each account access is managed separately.
- If the user already has a Microsoft Advertising account under a different email, they may need to use that existing account to accept the invite.
| Bulk option | Availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CSV import | No | Not documented |
| Domain whitelisting | No | Automatic domain-based user add |
| IdP provisioning | No | Not documented |
How to remove or deactivate users
- Can delete users: Yes
- Delete/deactivate behavior: Microsoft Advertising allows account admins to delete (remove) a user's access to an account. The official help documentation refers to this action as 'delete user' within the Account access settings. Removing a user revokes their access to the specified account(s) but does not delete the user's Microsoft account itself.
- Sign in to Microsoft Advertising at ui.ads.microsoft.com.
- Click the gear/settings icon and select 'Account access'.
- Locate the user in the user list.
- Click the checkbox next to the user's name.
- Click 'Delete' (or select 'Delete' from the action menu).
- Confirm the deletion when prompted.
| Data impact | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Owned records | Campaigns, ads, and keywords created by the removed user remain in the account and are not deleted. |
| Shared content | Shared assets (audiences, ad extensions, etc.) created by the user remain accessible to other users in the account. |
| Integrations | Not documented |
| License freed | No per-seat license cost exists; removing a user has no billing impact. |
Watch out for:
- Removing a user from one account does not remove them from other accounts they have access to; each account must be managed separately.
- A Super Admin cannot be removed if they are the only Super Admin on the manager account; another Super Admin must be assigned first.
- The removed user's Microsoft account is not affected; only their access to the Microsoft Advertising account is revoked.
License and seat management
| Seat type | Includes | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Platform access | All user roles (Super Admin, Standard User, Advertiser Campaign Manager, Viewer) are included at no per-seat cost. | Free; Microsoft Advertising charges only for ad spend (pay-per-click model). |
- Where to check usage: Settings → Account access (lists all users and their roles across accounts)
- How to identify unused seats: Review the user list under Account access; there is no built-in last-login date display in the UI. Unused access must be identified manually by reviewing the user list and confirming with account stakeholders.
- Billing notes: Microsoft Advertising does not charge per user seat. All billing is based on advertising spend. There is no cost implication to adding or removing users.
The cost of manual management
Microsoft Advertising does not charge per user seat. Every app in your stack that bills per seat creates license overhead, but Microsoft Advertising is not one of them - all billing is based on advertising spend only. Adding or removing users carries no direct cost implication, which simplifies offboarding decisions.
What IT admins are saying
Community evidence is not specific enough to quote or summarize yet for this app.
The decision
Super Admin is the only role that grants full cross-account control, and it is only assignable at the MCC level, not on individual advertiser accounts. Standard Users at the MCC level inherit access to all linked accounts unless explicitly scoped down.
Advertiser Campaign Manager is the right choice for contractors or agency staff who need campaign execution access on specific accounts without touching billing or user settings. Viewer suits reporting stakeholders who need read access only.
Unlike every app that provides bulk user management tooling, Microsoft Advertising requires admins to handle each account's user list separately in the UI. Organizations managing large MCC hierarchies will find that offboarding an employee or ending an agency relationship requires manual work across every linked account individually.
Bottom line
Microsoft Advertising's user management is straightforward for small teams but shows friction at scale. The invitation-only onboarding flow, absence of activity timestamps, and lack of bulk management tools mean that keeping access current requires deliberate manual effort - particularly during offboarding across multi-account MCC hierarchies.
Because there is no per-seat cost, the risk is access sprawl rather than wasted spend.
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