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MSN PPC Advertising Network Finally Debuts
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by:
Joel Walsh
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MSN
PPC Advertising Network Finally Debuts
MSN is launching its own PPC advertising program with new demographic
and behavioral targeting features in France and Singapore in mid-late
2005.
2005-03-17
Joel Walsh
MSN PPC Advertising Long-Awaited Debut Announced
You probably already know that there are really only two major players
in the world of PPC advertising: Overture and Google Adwords. By the
end of 2005, there will likely be a third: Microsoft's MSN Search.
Microsoft recently announced that it is launching its new MSN PPC
advertising engine in Singapore and France by mid-late 2005. Smart
marketers are probably already planning how they might justify
advertising their products or services in Singapore to get a taste of
the new service. The service's introduction into Canada, the UK, and
the US may very well come before the end of 2005.
The new MSN advertising program has been long awaited. MSN is
Microsoft's leading website property, and perhaps the web's most
visited "portal" (website with both search and content such as news)
after Yahoo! MSN's search engine accounts for one in five web searches,
putting it in third place behind Google and Yahoo!
Search engine advertising mostly a two-player game
Currently, MSN shows advertising that comes from Overture, the web's
largest online advertising network in terms of revenue. Overture was
bought by Yahoo! a number of years ago. Since Yahoo! is the direct
competitor of MSN in every way, plenty of people have been wondering
why MSN didn't take its advertising program in-house long ago. It seems
especially strange considering that even Lycos, whose search engine now
accounts for a small fraction of total web searches, has its own
advertising network.
In many minds, the fact that Microsoft would go to Overture only
demonstrated how excellent an online advertising program Overture was,
and just how hard it really is to set one up. Before going to Overture,
MSN was getting advertising from LookSmart, an advertising network that
does not own any websites that compete with Microsoft properties in any
big way. Even before it had lost its largest advertising outlet,
LookSmart was widely seen as a subpar second-tier engine, in a category
with FindWhat or even Kanoodle. The fact that LookSmart had seemingly
squandered a chance to make inroads into an online advertising market
dominated by two big players cast a lot of doubt on whether there would
ever be a serious challenger to Google Adwords and Overture.
What Microsoft's new advertising network means for the future
Will the new MSN advertising network succeed where so many have failed?
Or will it become a bloated, relatively uncompetitive product only
supported by Microsoft's vast bulk? (Not that Bill Gates has ever
fathered such a bastard child.)
There's a very good reason to believe that the new advertising program
bears the seeds of its own destruction, thanks to a typically
Microsoftian act of overreaching and obliviousness to public opinion.
That bad seed is the same bad seed that has spoiled the fruits of so
many internet marketing labors: behavioral and demographic targeting,
which always seems to disagree with some people's stomachs, no matter
how delicately it is arranged in the bowl. (Editor's note: too extended
a metaphor? Well, website copywriters have egos, too, you know, just
like the rest of the web dev. community. At least you didn't have to
sit through five minutes of flash animation to read this.)
Next: MSN PPC Advertising to Incorporate Demographic &
Behavioral Targeting: Killer App. or Achilles Heel?
Microsoft's press release announcing the new MSN advertising program is
also worth reading if you're that into this.
Joel Walsh is the head writer at UpMarket, internet marketing services,
online copywriting services, & website content provider
focusing on small and medium-sized businesses and those who serve them.
Website: www.upmarketcontent.com |
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