msn

Microsoft (under it's MSN Brand) recently unveiled their own pay per click advertising solution. Previously MSN's text ads were provided as a feed from Yahoo Search Marketing. The new service, named MSN AdCenter, is now out of Beta Format & open to all advertisers.

MSN AdCenter is similar to the other big names in functionality & borrows some ideas from others. This is a good thing...particularly the way that ads are ranked. They chose to use an ad ranking algorithm similar to Google Adwords which rewards ads with a higher click-through-rate by adding that criteria to the ranking formula.

The interface is not as clean & fast as Adwords - but we did find it easy enough to work with. We were invited as an advertiser during the Beta launch & the interface has become much easier to work with since then - largely because less features are broken.

MSN AdCenter also adds a new wrinkle in providing a simple way to target a certain demographic group(18-24 year olds, people of retirement age, etc). We haven't experimented with this feature as yet - but it is good to see some innovation in ppc text ads. Competition is a good thing.

Overall, the traffic quality from MSN AdCenter has been excellent. Our conversion rates have actually been higher than our conversion rates on Adwords or Yahoo Search Marketing. However, there may be a simple explanation for this. Due to MSN Adwords being a newer offering, there is less advertising competition. We found that we were able to easily secure 2nd & 3rd position ads for some fairly competitive terms. The same bid & ad on Adwords would likely be in a 5th or 6th position due to heavy hitters with big bids. Ad position can affect conversion rates (we tend to like 3rd position). A review of the actual numbers would be more appropriate as MSN becomes a more mature platform in regard to the number & type of advertisers.

Currently, on our control ads, we are enjoying more traffic from MSN than from Yahoo Search Marketing (Overture). This again is likely due to strong positions available on MSN AdCenter. However, the traffic flow remains inconsistent. Initially, MSN Adcenter incorporated a feed from Yahoo & ran the "AdCenter" ads only sporadically. Once the relationship with Yahoo Search Marketing had ended, we expected to see a dramitic increase in traffic. In truth, we have. But the traffic volume remains inconsistent & unpredictable suggesting the ads are still being throttled or perhaps tested against ads from other advertisers. Adwords remains the king in regard to traffic volume.

Conclusion: MSN AdCenter is Highly Recommended based on Traffic Quality and Ad Ranking Formula.