Microsoft’s Publisher Marketplace, Google Tag Update & Multi-Party Approvals – PPC Pulse via @sejournal, @brookeosmundson

Welcome to PPC Pulse. This week’s PPC updates come from both Microsoft and Google, all dedicated to more “behind the scenes” work.

Microsoft announced a new Content Publisher Marketplace, where it is starting to rethink how content is compensated amid the increased use of AI.

On the Google front, Google now says the standard tag is no longer the recommended setup. And in a rare security upgrade, Google Ads rolled out multi-party approvals to protect accounts from unauthorized activity.

Here’s what matters for advertisers and why.

Microsoft Ads Announces Publisher Content Marketplace

On February 3, Microsoft Ads and Microsoft AI introduced the Publisher Content Marketplace. The platform is designed to keep high-quality content publishers at the forefront of AI-driven experiences. The marketplace creates a new, transparent licensing system between content publishers and AI builders.

In the blog announcement, Tim Frank, corporate vice president of Microsoft AI Monetization, explained the need for this:

“The open web was built on an implicit value exchange where publishers made content accessible, and distribution channels – like search – helped people find it. That model does not translate cleanly to an AI-first world, where answers are increasingly delivered in a conversation. At the same time, much of the authoritative content lives behind paywalls or within specialized archives. As the AI web grows, publishers need sustainable, transparent ways to govern how their premium content is used and to license it when it makes the most sense.”

The platform allows publishers to define their own licensing terms and get paid based on how their content is used in AI responses. AI builders, in turn, get scalable access to licensed content without needing individual agreements with every publisher.

According to the announcement, Microsoft’s testing with Copilot showed that premium content “meaningfully improves response quality.” The marketplace includes usage-based reporting so publishers can see where their content is being used and how it’s valued.

Why This Matters For Advertisers

The launch of Publisher Content Marketplace matters less for what it does right now and more for what it signals about where AI advertising might be headed.

If premium content becomes a differentiator for AI platforms, the quality of the information feeding those systems could directly impact things like ad relevance and targeting.

For advertisers, that means the platforms with better content licensing deals may end up with better-performing ad products. It also suggests that Microsoft is betting on a future where AI answers aren’t just pulling from the open web but from curated, licensed content sources that have economic incentives to keep their information accurate and current.

Additionally, if Microsoft can differentiate Copilot’s ad inventory based on content quality while Google is still negotiating those types of relationships, it creates an opportunity for Microsoft to position itself as the premium option for certain verticals.

What PPC Professionals Are Saying

Navah Hopkins, Microsoft Ads liaison, also shared the announcement on LinkedIn and highlighted how “content ownership and respect for human autonomy are foundational to getting the AI web right.” Her perspective emphasized content quality over volume, which aligns with Microsoft’s positioning against competitors who may prioritize reach over accuracy.

Christoph Waldstein, senior client director Strategic Sales at Microsoft, also showed his support for the marketplace, stating, “Great to see so many premium partners join us to keep content quality high in an Agentic world!”

The marketplace is voluntary to join, so it will be interesting to see how many publishers opt in and whether the content licensing creates improvements in customer quality for advertisers running on Microsoft.

Google Says Standard Tag Is No Longer The Recommended Setup

Google communicated through various channels, including YouTube Shorts and LinkedIn, that the standard tag setup is no longer the recommended configuration for advertisers.

From the sounds of it, it appears that standard client-side tagging is being phased out in favor of Google Tag Gateway or full server-side tagging setups.

Tag Gateway works by serving Google tags from your own domain instead of from Google’s servers. This approach improves data accuracy by reducing the impact of browser privacy features and ad blockers, extends cookie lifespans in restrictive browsers like Safari, and positions the tracking infrastructure as first-party rather than third-party.

The platform is also promoting Tag Gateway through partnerships and integrations like Webflow, which automate much of the configuration that previously required technical expertise.

With Google Ads for Webflow, marketers can now  connect campaign performance to first-party data, as well as launch and optimize campaigns inside the Webflow dashboard.

Google stated that they’re bringing in more integrations to other platforms soon.

Why This Matters For Advertisers

The practical implication is that advertisers who haven’t upgraded their tagging infrastructure are likely seeing degraded data quality without realizing it. As browsers continue tightening privacy restrictions, that gap is likely going to widen.

Looking at Google’s choice of communication channels for this update, it feels like right now this is more of a technical “recommendation” to get more advertisers on board. My assumption is that it will become mandatory in the future.

To me, it signals that accounts that choose to run on outdated tag configurations won’t have the best data signal strength to compete in automated bidding environments where data quality has a huge impact on performance. That was also echoed in the first episode of Ads Decoded last week, where they talked a lot about data strength.

Google also touts that the upgrade to Tag Gateway is “effortless,” where advertisers can set this up with the CDN or CMS of their choice directly in Google Ads, Google Analytics, or Google Tag Manager. They’re removing a barrier for many small businesses, hoping to get more advertisers on board quicker.

What PPC Professionals Are Saying

Most comments on Google’s LinkedIn post are in agreement with the move to Google Tag Gateway.

Alexandr Stambari, performance marketing specialist at ASBC Moldova, gave good feedback, but also provided some critical potential gaps in transparency that I’m sure many advertisers would also ask:

“The move toward first-party tagging and Google tag gateway makes sense in today’s environment, especially with increasing cookie restrictions and a stronger focus on AI-driven optimization.

At the same time, it would be great to see more transparency on where the actual uplift comes from — the technology itself versus overall improvements in models and media mix. For many advertisers, the entry barrier (infrastructure, resources, and implementation clarity) is still not entirely clear.”

However, some PPCers are against using Google Tag Gateway and have been talking about it before Google posted their videos about it.

In a post last week, Luc Nugteren, tracking specialist, said he’s not using Google Tag Gateway because “server-side tagging offers more benefits” and because SST “isn’t restricted to Google and enables you to use a custom loader, it will help you measure more.”

Google Ads Introduces Multi-Party Approval For Account Changes

Google Ads rolled out multi-party approval (MPA), a security feature that requires a second administrator to verify high-risk account changes before they take effect. The feature was first spotted by Hana Kobzova, founder of PPCNewsFeed.com, who shared the update on LinkedIn.

Multi-party approval applies to actions like adding new users, removing existing users, or changing user roles within an account. When someone initiates one of these changes, all eligible administrators receive an in-product notification to approve or deny the request. There are no email notifications currently, which means administrators need to check the platform directly to see pending approvals.

Requests expire after 20 days if no action is taken. The system automatically blocks expired requests, and the person who initiated the change needs to restart the process if the action is still necessary. Read-only roles are exempt from the approval process.

Why This Matters For Advertisers

This seems like the right move from Google after multiple reports of account owners or agency owners have had their Google Ads accounts hacked.

While it may add some extra friction in operations, it’s more of a justified annoyance in the name of security.

For agencies managing multiple client accounts, the operational impact could be significant. If every user addition or role change requires coordination between two administrators, that adds time to onboarding processes and makes emergency access requests more complicated.

The lack of email notifications is a notable gap. Administrators who don’t log into Google Ads regularly may not see pending approval requests until they’ve already expired, which could create delays for legitimate account changes. Google will likely add email support based on user feedback, but for now, it’s a manual check-in process.

The other consideration is what happens when the only other administrator is unavailable. Google’s support documentation makes it clear that support teams can’t approve or deny requests on behalf of account owners, which means if your backup admin is on vacation or no longer with the company, you’re stuck until they respond or the request expires.

What PPC Professionals Are Saying

Many advertisers seem to be in favor of this move by Google.

Dan Kabakov, founder of Online Labs, stated:

“About time Google addressed this. The account hijacking attacks over the past few months have been brutal for agencies.”

Ana Kostic, co-founder of Bigmomo, said that “it’s a bit annoying but it’s much better than the alternative,” while in the comments Fintan Riordan, founder of VouchFlow.ai said he is “glad to see Google taking this seriously.”

Theme Of The Week: Infrastructure Upgrades May Become Requirements

This week’s updates share a common thread: What used to be optional infrastructure improvements are likely becoming baseline requirements for running competitive advertising campaigns.

Microsoft’s Publisher Content Marketplace is building the foundation for how content gets licensed in an AI-first ecosystem. Google’s push away from standard tags toward Tag Gateway is (not quite) forcing advertisers to upgrade their measurement infrastructure. And multi-party approval is adding procedural safeguards that change how account administration works.

In each case, the platforms are signaling that the old way of doing things is no longer sustainable.

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