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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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