The Microsoft adCenter Code Blog

If you are interested in the Microsoft ContentAds then you may want to know that select Microsoft adCenter advertisers just received invitations to participate in the new ContentAds pilot, which begins running this fall.

In a recent email select advertisers were told that ads would appear on various MSN owned websites such as MSN Real Estate and MSN Money, as well as others linked from the main MSN portal. For those who are hoping to display MSN ads as a publisher there is a ray of hope in the invite, here is part of the email we recieved from MSN adCenter.

Content Ads is Microsoft’s next product that allows advertisers to place content-targeted, text-based advertisements primarily on Microsoft-owned properties including MSN Money, Real Estate, and many others within the www.msn.com portal.

This migh mean that ads for this pilot could also appear on non-MSN sites, meaning website owners may be able to get into this program before it officially launches as a full-service publisher program similar to Google AdSense or Yahoo Publisher Network.

ContentAds will also be utilizing demographic targeting, geo-targeting and incremental bidding tools for all advertisements as well, so advertisers will have full flexibility on their ads appearing through ContentAds.

I am most looking forward to the day I can particapate in the program as a publisher but for now we are happy to be invited to the beta on the opposite end of the MSN Search program,

~ Jack

Technorati Tags: Microsoft ContentAds, Microsoft adCenter, ContentAds, MSN ads, MSN adCenter, MSN Search, contextual ads, adsense, yahoo publisher, internet advertising, web marketing, search engine marketing, seo, sem

In what has to be see as a direct response to Google’s exclusive deal with MySpace Forbes has reported that Microsoft has announced a similar deal with Facebook.  Under the deal announced late Tuesday, Microsoft will sell and provide banner ads and sponsored links for Facebook using the Microsoft adCenter online advertising platform and other in-house technology and services.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. It is expected to run through mid-2009.

The deal is a big win for Microsoft’s MSN adCenter and should give them not only another source of quality traffic but highly targeted traffic amoung the High School and College demographic.  Microsoft has already shown it is willing to take the lead in demographic targeting one can only hope they will do the same here.  Unlike MySpace you must have an account and be logged in to view Facebook pages.  This means there is demographic data available for 100% of ad viewers.

Critics point out that Facebook has only 9 million users where as MySpace has over 100 million yet there is tremendous value in a 9 million user highly targeted captive audience.  Also ask any web marketer what he would rather have 10,000 highly targeted visitors or 100,000 totaly random ones and you will find that most will value the targeting over the raw number.

This can be a massive success for Microsoft, time will tell if they choose to make the most of it.

~ Jack

Technorati Tags: MySpace, Forbes, Microsoft, Facebook, Microsoft adCenter, MSN adCenter,

Doug Stotland, Group Product Manager, Microsoft adCenter, MSN Search, told advertisers on August 22nd that they have the “capacity to pay more for a click” in response to questions about bids being to high and a growing ROI gap. At a Search Engine Strategies Conference panel, called “Meet the Search Ad Networks“, Stotland recommend that advertisers “adapt and adopt” to a changing market place.

Stotland indicted that he is often asked when clicks prices will stop rising and why the Big ROI Gap is getting bigger. According to Stotland, there are three explanations for rising click pricing:

1. Increasing demand from new advertisers and from bigger budgets of existing advertisers.

2. Irrational advertisers bidding up click prices.

3. Increasing ROI from search advertising.

I would tend to agree with this assessment as advertising on the web is probally the only form that truely is set at a real honest “market value”. If people are paying 2 dollars a click for a term some one is profitable at that range and it is usually those who do not properly track and tune their accounts that blindly chase top bid and of course end up on that “loosing side”.

Stotland’s recommendation to be on the winning side: pay more for clicks and “get more value from each click”.

Ways to get more value from clicks?

- “Target customers more precisely” (My View on this suggestion - With MSN’s Demographic Targeting, Time of Day Control and Dynamic Keyword Insertion I feel there are plenty of ways to accomplish this)

- “Improve CTR to increase volume and lower CPC”, (My View on this suggestion - This is a tenant of PPC anyone using Google Adsense or MSN adCenter needs to be very familure with)

- Increase post-click conversions. (My View on this suggestion - Search Engines send traffic it is then up to our sites to convert it the better a job you do here the more power you have in out bidding competitors and ending up on the “winning side”.)

There are a lot of advertisors that constantly complain about quality of traffic, click fraud and other factors but I have found over time that in any niche there are usualy some long term bidders that stay the course for years and always seem to remain in the upper postitions for their selected keywords. They are the ones that never stop improving their PPC Campains and never stop improving their websites and landing pages.

Personaly I feel the answer to the orginal question is no, the PPC Market is not over priced, well, at least not for very long because no advertisor can afford to blow money for very long on a loosing campain. The exception may be VoIP Giant Vonage who seems to be intent on loosing money consistantly in an insane strategy of “Growth Over Profit“.

In most niches that competitor bidding at the top who has been there for the long haul has fine tuned everything to maximize ROI.

My final advice NEVER chase the new bidder that just shows up maxes out a bid, he will  often be gone in no time at all as soon as he burns though his first budget or two.

Always determine your individual Value Per Visitor (VPV) and then stick to that metric, when you do that PPC is honestly always profitable. If that number is to low, tune the account, tune the landing pages and work on increasing it. That burden is on you not MSN, Google, Yahoo or any PPC Based Search Company.

What are your thoughs on rising PPC cost and getting a Good ROI?

Do you feel the market is over price or that it is incumbent upon the individual marketer to know what traffic is worth to them and make efforts to increase conversions?

Or is it a combination of both factors?