ReferenceMicrosoft Advertising delivery status
Eligible, limited by budget
Eligible, limited by budget means the ads run, but Microsoft Advertising shows them less often than it could because the daily budget is below what it recommends. The campaign ran out of budget at least once in the past seven days, or is expected to. Raise the budget only if the campaign brings leads; otherwise narrow what it spends on.
At a glance
- Where it shows
- In the Delivery column of the Campaigns table. The newer Campaigns grid rolls it into the Out of Budget status, with the detail in the diagnostics panel.
- What stops
- Nothing stops. Some of the searches the campaign could answer go without its ad.
- How serious
- Low. Microsoft says a campaign with this status can still meet its goals.
What it means
The campaign's targeting reaches more searches than its budget can pay for. To make the budget last through each day, Microsoft Advertising reduces how often the ads appear, rather than running them until the money runs out at noon.
Microsoft shows the status when the campaign ran out of budget at least once in the past seven days, or when it expects it to in the coming weeks. It is advice about missed volume, not a fault: the same campaign at the same budget can be the right call if the extra searches would not bring business.
What actually triggers it
The keywords reach more searches than the budget covers
Broad keywords and broad match pull in many searches. Microsoft says the budget then cannot accommodate all of the traffic for the keywords and targeting settings.
Locations, schedule or audiences were widened
A larger area or more hours of the day add searches without adding money, so the same budget is spread thinner.
The budget was lowered
A lower daily budget against the same targeting brings the status on within days.
Costs per click went up
Not on Google's help page
Higher bids, a new automated bid strategy or more competition mean fewer clicks for the same money, and an earlier daily limit.
Fix it in this order
- Hover over Eligible, limited by budget in the Delivery column to see how the campaign might perform at other budgets.
- Check which keywords and search terms in the campaign bring calls and forms, and which only spend.
- If the campaign brings leads at a cost that works, raise the budget in the Budget column and save, or pick one of Microsoft's suggested budgets.
- If it does not, keep the budget and cut the traffic instead: pause the keywords and search terms that only spend, add negative keywords, and narrow the locations or the ad schedule.
- Check the status again after a week, since Microsoft judges it over the past seven days.
Budget changes generally take effect within an hour or so. The status clears once the campaign stops running out of budget, which Microsoft reads over the past seven days.
Running Microsoft Advertising beside Google is one of the things we sell. A status like “Eligible, limited by budget” is the kind of problem we sort out as part of that work, in an account that stays in your name.
Often confused with
The budget is spent and every ad in the campaign has stopped until the next day.
Limited by auto-bidding target
An automated bid strategy's target, such as a cost per acquisition, is holding the bids down. It is a bid setting, not the budget.
Is it worth raising the budget to clear the status?
Only when the campaign's clicks become calls and forms at a cost that works. Microsoft's suggestion is based on the searches available, not on what they are worth to the business, so the lead records are the better guide than the status.