If you run Shopping campaigns on Microsoft Ads, you know how frustrating it can be to manage a large product catalog. This is because there are many issues such as products becoming inactive, having feeds with missing data, products not being served, and identifying which exact problem it is, which becomes a time-consuming process. Microsoft is trying to fix that with a new tool called Product Explorer.
The announcement came from Microsoft Product Liaison Navah Hopkins, and the tool is described as a centralized view of product catalog health and performance. It is already live in accounts, so if you run Shopping campaigns on Microsoft Ads, you can go check it out right now.
What Product Explorer Actually Is
Product Explorer is a reporting tool built into Microsoft Ads that gives advertisers a single place to look at their entire product catalog. Before this, advertisers had to rely on Merchant Center reports and individual ad group data to piece together what was going on with their feed. That process was slow and easy to get wrong.
What Product Explorer allows you to do is combine all of this into a single interface that allows for searching. It is possible to filter products according to attributes such as SKU, title, GTIN, or product ID, and determine the products which are live, those serving advertisements, or those generating performances.
Instead of combing through report data and spreadsheets, it would be possible to search the catalog for information on whatever product may be of interest.
What It Shows You
The tool surfaces several things that were previously hard to get a quick read on. Here is what advertisers can now see in one place.
First, eligibility issues. If a product is not serving, Product Explorer tells you why. Maybe there is a metadata gap, a missing required field, a pricing mismatch, or some other issue preventing the product from being eligible to run ads. The tool flags these so you know exactly what needs to be fixed.
Second, performance data. Product Explorer includes product-level performance metrics going back 30 days. So you can see not just whether a product is eligible, but how it has actually been performing in terms of impressions and results.
Third, recommended actions. The tool does not just tell you what is wrong. It surfaces suggestions for what to do about it, making it easier to move products from broken or inactive into a state where they can actually serve.
And fourth, export functionality. You can export filtered product lists for further analysis outside the platform if you want to dig deeper or share the data with someone else.
Why This Matters for Retail Advertisers
Managing a product feed sounds simple enough until you are actually doing it. A large catalog can have thousands of SKUs, and even small issues at the product level can quietly drain campaign performance. A product that is out of stock, has a broken image URL, is missing a GTIN, or has a price mismatch will not serve. And if you have a lot of those products sitting in your catalog with issues you have not caught, you are losing reach you are probably paying to try and get back somewhere else.
The common feed problems that plague Microsoft Shopping campaigns include things like missing required fields, invalid prices, GTIN warnings, image verification failures, and feed freshness issues. These are not rare edge cases. They are pretty much the standard reality of running a catalog at scale. The problem has always been visibility. Most advertisers only find out about these issues when performance drops and they start digging, rather than catching them early.
Product Explorer is aimed at changing that. By giving advertisers a searchable, filterable view of their catalog with issue flags and recommended fixes right there in the interface, Microsoft is making it easier to stay on top of feed health proactively rather than reactively.
The Feed Quality Connection
Here is the bigger picture. Product-based advertising on platforms like Microsoft has become increasingly automated. Smart Shopping campaigns and Performance Max style campaigns decide on their own which products to show, to whom, and when. The main lever you have as an advertiser is the quality of the data you put into the feed.
If your feed has incomplete or inaccurate data, the automation has less to work with. Products with strong, complete data tend to get more impressions. Products with gaps or errors tend to get fewer, or none at all. So, feed quality management is not only a task for housekeeping purposes but rather one that influences the reach of your campaigns directly and affects the efficiency of your budgeting.
Microsoft is taking advantage of this relationship and making it clear by its evolution as a platform. In 2026, Microsoft Advertising ecommerce strategy focuses heavily on incorporating Copilot features, machine learning, and AI-powered shopping experiences, among others. However, all these depend on having quality, up-to-date, and accurate data about the products. In this sense, Product Explorer can be seen as part of Microsoft’s attempt to provide a solution.
What You Should Do With It
If you run Microsoft Shopping campaigns, the first thing worth doing is opening Product Explorer and running a scan of your catalog. Look for any products flagged with eligibility issues. Pay particular attention to the ones that were previously active but have stopped serving, since those represent products that should be generating impressions but are not.
The 30-day performance view is also useful for spotting underperformers that may be active and eligible but just not producing results. Sometimes a product is technically fine but the title, description, or other attributes are too generic to match relevant queries well. That kind of issue shows up clearly when you can see performance data at the product level.
From there, use the recommended actions the tool surfaces and work through the fixes systematically. If you have a large catalog, the export feature makes it easier to prioritize which products to tackle first, especially if you want to sort by things like revenue contribution or impression share.
One thing worth noting: feed quality issues tend to accumulate over time. Products get added, prices change, stock levels shift, and the feed data does not always keep up. Checking in on catalog health regularly, rather than only when something goes wrong, is a better long-term approach. Product Explorer makes that kind of routine check much less time-consuming than it used to be.
Why Microsoft Is Building This
Microsoft has been steadily adding diagnostic and insight tools to its advertising platform over the past year. Earlier in 2026, the company added Performance Shift Root Cause Analysis to help advertisers understand why campaign results change, along with Conversion Tracking Diagnostics to catch measurement setup issues early. Product Explorer fits into the same pattern of Microsoft trying to make it easier for advertisers to identify and fix problems without having to file support tickets or export data into external tools.
The underlying goal is pretty clear. A better-managed catalog means more products serving, which means more auction participation, which ultimately means more revenue for Microsoft. So there is alignment between what is good for advertisers and what is good for the platform. Tools that make feed management easier serve both sides.
The Bottom Line
Product Explorer is a practical addition to Microsoft Ads. It does not reinvent how Shopping campaigns work, but it does make catalog management significantly more accessible. Getting a searchable view of your whole product catalog, seeing which products have issues, understanding what the issues are, getting recommendations on how to fix them, and accessing 30 days of performance data, all in one place, is genuinely useful.
If your Microsoft Shopping campaigns have been underperforming, or if you have not done a thorough feed audit recently, this is a good time to take a look. The tool is live in accounts now according to Navah Hopkins, so there is no waiting involved.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q 1: What is Microsoft Ads Product Explorer?
It is a new reporting tool in Microsoft Ads that gives advertisers a centralized, searchable view of their entire product catalog. It shows which products are active, which are serving ads, what issues exist, and how products have performed over the past 30 days.
Q 2: Who announced Product Explorer?
The tool was announced by Navah Hopkins, Microsoft Product Liaison, who confirmed it is already live in accounts.
Q 3: What kind of issues does Product Explorer flag?
It highlights eligibility issues, metadata gaps, and other factors preventing products from serving ads. It also surfaces recommended actions to help advertisers resolve those issues.
Q 4: What product attributes can I search and filter by?
You can filter products by attributes including SKU, title, GTIN, and product ID.
Q 5: How much performance data does Product Explorer show?
It includes product-level performance data covering the previous 30 days.
Q 6: Can I export data from Product Explorer?
Yes. The tool allows advertisers to export filtered product lists for further analysis outside the platform.
Q 7: Why does feed quality matter so much for Shopping campaigns?
Shopping campaigns are increasingly automated, meaning the platform decides which products to show and when. Incomplete or inaccurate product data limits how well that automation can work, which directly affects impressions and campaign performance.
Q 8: Is Product Explorer available to all Microsoft Ads advertisers?
According to Navah Hopkins, it should already be live in accounts. If you run Shopping campaigns, check your Microsoft Ads account to access it.
Q 9: What is a GTIN and why does it matter?
GTIN stands for Global Trade Item Number. It is a product identifier, like a barcode number, that helps Microsoft match your products to relevant searches. Missing or incorrect GTINs are one of the most common feed issues that can prevent products from serving.
Q 10: How often should I use Product Explorer?
Regularly. Feed issues tend to build up over time as products are added, prices change, and stock levels shift. Using Product Explorer for routine catalog health checks rather than only when something goes wrong is the better approach.
