Microsoft`s Push for the AdWords Market
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We’ve known it for a while: Microsoft’s agreement with Overture expires in June, 2006. This paves the way for MSN to take a large slice of the pay per click pie with its own advertising program: adCenter.
With two of the three search engine giants, Google and Yahoo, already having their massive advertising arenas, it only makes sense for Microsoft to enter the race. What took them so long to start? Were they just dragging their feet, or were they simply being patient and waiting for the opportunity to make a huge splash?
Part of the reason it took so long for MSN to jump on the ad bandwagon is the agreement Microsoft has with Overture, the first successful pay per click ad program, which is owned by Yahoo! Search Marketing. Those who know the Redmond, Washington based company understand that this could not make MSN happy for too long, however MSN chose to utilize some form of advertising while it spent its energy on revamping its search engine. MSN contracts with Yahoo until the end of June, and will be replacing the contracted program with their own, which has a unique approach that will give both Yahoo and Google a run for their money. The $15 billion U.S. Internet advertising market is a compelling reason to enter the game, even if MSN comes in last place.
But MSN wants to do more than simply serve ads; they want to be better than what’s already in place. MSN’s adCenter is unique for its use of customer profiling, taking advantage of the data MSN gathers from its more than 9 million subscribers. MSN AdCenter, which debuted in Singapore at the end of September 2005, allows advertisers to launch highly targeted online keyword search-based campaigns, with the ability to include or exclude target customers based on geographic location, gender and age and to run ads only during certain times and days. For MSN, advertising is not just about exposure, it’s about exposure to the right audience.
"With the competing products you buy a word. On ours you go into detailed level and see who is searching for words," said Eric Hadley, senior director of advertising and marketing for MSN. "You can plan an (ad) buy based on the people and say, 'I'm willing to pay this much for this demographic, and I don't want these people in the mix.'"
The adCenter pilot program initially was scheduled to begin in the United States on March 16, 2006, but MSN’s adCenter Beta was active well before that date. Testing the waters seems like a good idea for Microsoft, who invested millions to launch the program in the United States. In the pilot program, you can even import ads from Yahoo and Google’s programs to make the switch-over more attractive to those who are already advertising with MSN’s competitors, allowing you to avoid manual upload of each of your keywords or ad campaigns.
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