Bing WMT: More countries in country reporting

According to a public statement on X, Microsoft is reviewing an expansion of the country filter in Bing Webmaster Tools to include more individual countries. Fabrice Canel, a Microsoft representative, wrote: "Well, we are now actively considering expanding this to show more individual countries." For SEO teams with an international focus, this would be a relevant step because country-specific performance data forms the basis for targeted optimizations in different markets.

Bing Webmaster Tools are the central monitoring interface for website operators on Microsoft's search platform—comparable to Google Search Console. In addition to indexing status, crawling errors, and classic search performance reports, the tools offer filters that allow teams to narrow data by region. The country filter is particularly important for companies that operate content in multiple languages or want to analyze traffic from different markets in a targeted way.

What the country filter in Bing Webmaster Tools does

The Countries filter makes it possible to segment search performance metrics such as clicks, impressions, and average position by country. This reveals differences between markets: Where do certain landing pages perform strongly, where is visibility lacking, and which countries deliver above-average impressions with a low click-through rate? These questions are central to international SEO, hreflang strategies, and localized content planning.

The selection in the country filter currently appears to be limited—this is exactly where the announced review comes in. Microsoft is actively considering showing more individual countries in the filter selection. That would enable more granular evaluations without teams having to rely on external tools or manual workarounds.

Announcement from Fabrice Canel on X

The information comes from a post by Fabrice Canel on X. He is known at Microsoft for Bing and Webmaster Tools and regularly communicates product updates directly to the SEO community. With the statement that an expansion to more individual countries is being actively considered, Microsoft signals interest in community feedback—a typical pattern in step-by-step tool rollouts.

An "actively considering" does not yet mean a fixed release date. Nevertheless, the direction is clear: Microsoft wants to expand country reporting in Bing Webmaster Tools. For teams that strategically integrate Bing as a second search engine alongside Google, this is a signal that international data quality in webmaster tools continues to gain importance.

Direct communication via social channels is established at Microsoft for Bing updates: previous adjustments to indexing, crawling, and AI reporting were also hinted at on X first before appearing in official release notes. SEO professionals should therefore include these channels in internal alert lists.

Why country-specific Bing data matters for SEO

• International content strategies can be prioritized based on real Bing performance per country
• hreflang and locale setups can be validated using country-specific impressions
• Technical issues such as faulty geo-targeting signals often appear only in individual markets
• Cross-engine comparisons between Google Search Console and Bing become more precise when both tools offer comparable country filters

Comparison with Google Search Console

Google Search Console has long offered a country filter that allows teams to evaluate performance by individual states. For many international SEO workflows, this is a standard tool: weekly reviews, quarterly reports, and content roadmaps often rely on this segmentation. If Bing expands the country filter, the gap between both platforms narrows—at least in reporting.

This is relevant because Bing holds noticeable market share in certain regions and industries. Companies that have only used Bing Webmaster Tools superficially could dive deeper into international evaluations with better country granularity. Agencies with multi-client setups benefit when they can pull uniform country reports from both webmaster interfaces for all properties.

Practical use cases for expanded country reporting

E-commerce companies with shops in multiple countries could see in which markets Bing traffic stagnates even though Google data shows growth—a hint at different search shares or content gaps. Publishers with localized editions can check whether translations in certain countries achieve above-average impressions but few clicks, which may indicate snippet or intent problems.

B2B providers with international reach also use country-specific data to inform sales and marketing teams in a targeted way. If the country filter covers more individual countries, workarounds such as manual evaluation via Bing APIs or third-party dashboards become unnecessary—at least for standard reporting tasks.

What SEO teams should prepare now

While the expansion is still under review, it is worth checking existing Bing Webmaster Tools properties for completeness: Are all relevant domains and subdomains verified, are sitemaps up to date, and is there a regular review cycle for Bing reports? Teams working internationally should document which countries are currently missing from the filter and which metrics are therefore not represented.

Recommended actions at a glance

Teams should keep Fabrice Canel and official Bing channels on their radar to recognize rollout updates early. Once more individual countries are available, a renewed alignment of country performance with existing SEO roadmaps, hreflang audits, and localized content plans is recommended.