MSN ContentAds Archives

It seems like you can now request to join the pilot Microsoft ContentAds program as a publisher. Currently, there was really no public method to request to show Microsoft ContentAds, via the adCenter content network, on your site. But now, there appears to be a form at http://advertising.microsoft.com/publisher that you can sign up at.

By completing the form, you have a chance at:

• To keep informed about new developments
• Receive invitations to participate in focus groups or feedback sessions
• And most importantly, possibly be considered for participation in an upcoming pilot program

So does this mean that Microsoft will soon be opening up their publisher program and be competing directly with Google AdSense and Yahoo Publisher Network? If Microsoft opens up the program soon, they can likely take away publishers from Yahoo. Yahoo is still closed to non-US based publishers.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

I reported this the other day at Search Engine Land, Microsoft Content Ads To Open To All US Advertisers August 29.

In short, Microsoft is opting in all US advertisers into their content network (i.e. ContentAds). The only way for you to say you don't want to be included in the content network is to fill out a form prior or turn it off after you are opted into the network. More on that over here.

Publishers, listen up. This does not mean Microsoft is launching an AdSense competitor on the 29th. All they are doing is allowing all advertisers to put their ads on Microsoft's content network. The content network from the publisher side is currently locked down. So no, you can't put Microsoft ContentAds on your sites, just yet.

There is a lot of confusion about that point.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.

A Search Engine Watch Forums post by Discovery alerts the community to the official launch of MSN ContentAds, which occurred yesterday. Every advertiser has now been pulled into the service.

As Barry mentioned earlier, you must opt out manually. To do so, Discovery has provided the following steps:

* Click the Campaigns tab.
* To change the settings for specific campaigns, select the check boxes next to those campaigns.
* Click Bulk edit.
* In the Edit settings for multiple campaigns section, from the Campaign settings drop-down list, select Content distribution, and click Apply.

Discovery also provides additional tips on separating your content ad keywords from your keywords for search or for combining them.

Tips for managing MSN ContentAds and discussion can be found at Search Engine Watch Forums.

A DigitalPoint Forums thread has a member saying he has been beta testing the Microsoft alternative to Google's AdSense program, named ContentAds.

He gave the new contextual ad program, from a publisher's perspective, a great review.

To be honest is was actually pretty sweet. I am not going to talk about any specifics until is goes open beta but I feel it is a huge improvement in certain aspects. I am just waiting until I can take it for a spin on some of my websites to really get a feel for it. I wish MS would just give me a job so I can help them step it up some more. For any platform for content publishers you really need to focus on the filtering and reports. Those are the two area I use the most so the most attention should be paid attention to them. A close third of course is the ad creation process. Watch out for MS, they are not going down without a fight.

But as far as I know, ContentAds is only open to very large and trusted publishers and there is no program for smaller publishers. Back in February 2006, I reported that MSN to Release Contextual Ad Program, ContentAds in 2006. That did happen in October 2006 with Microsoft Begins Testing Content Ads Beta, but it was only open to large publishers and to a limited set of adCenter advertisers to opt in. Microsoft continually expanded the ContentAds availability for advertisers but never really expanded the publisher side of things.

In fact, there was a lot of controversy over adCenter advertisers being forced into the contextual program without requesting their ads to show up on the content network. Next time adCenter was upfront about this change, and last week they announced it again.

So is this just a rumor? I am not sure. I sent out emails to my Microsoft contacts in this area, so we will see. I will update you if I find out more information.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

Update: Microsoft sent me a response that they are currently still only running ContentAds on their own network. They do not have a release date for a public release of ContentAds just yet.

I hate to say I told you so, but in this case, I told you so. Tamar reported on Monday, Microsoft adCenter Using Matching Criteria Other than Keyword Searches to Display Ads. In that, she explained how the terms and conditions are now updated to be more abstract. In the forums, there was a lot of confusion as to why.

I gave Tamar a quote, from myself, with my thoughts behind it saying:

This is not the first time Microsoft automatically added their advertisers to the content network program without their consent. When Microsoft launched their content network they did so by switching their advertisers into the program and then requiring them to opt out after the fact. In this case, I believe it may be similar, in that Microsoft wants to cover themselves by saying they "may" display their ads in other areas and via non-keyword searches (hence the content network and possibly via behavioral targeting methods).

Basically, I thought it was directly related to Microsoft wanting to boost up their content network and make sure they cover themselves on the legal side from their advertisers.

adCenter411, the adCenter representative in the forums, explained that the new text in the terms and conditions "allows you to participate in current and future adCenter services, such as Content Ads." The representative goes on to explain;

As we develop and launch new products, you may need to modify your adCenter account to adjust your participation to your desired level (i.e. turn-off participation, modify bids, etc.). We intend to keep you informed about new ad products or services and any significant changes to your service. For example, as we continue to offer our Content Ads product to new participants, we will email advertisers in advance to notify them about how they may turn-off content advertising.

So at first, content Ads. What can be next? Ads in Microsoft applications, ads in Xbox games, and so on. This keeps things open for Microsoft's online ad strategy. What is that strategy? Well, I recommend ready Keynote Conversation with Steve Berkowitz from last month.

Forum discussion continued at Search Engine Watch Forums & WebmasterWorld.

Members from Search Engine Watch Forums and WebmasterWorld received troubling information from Microsoft adCenter regarding yesterday's new Terms and Conditions.

We're writing to notify you that your Microsoft adCenter Terms and Conditions are updated. The changes take effect on April 30, 2007.

Some of the key adjustments to your Terms and Conditions include:

Microsoft may use matching criteria other than keyword searches to display your advertisements.
Microsoft may display your advertisements on its network of advertising channels operated by the Microsoft network of participating websites and other distribution outlets.
The payment and reporting terms in your adCenter agreement have been clarified to describe your rights.

adCenter advertisers are relatively disgruntled about this "matching criteria" given the fact that it is important for them to understand the criteria being used in Microsoft's refinements. Their hard work into the PPC campaigns are being challenged by this new policy. Some are planning on terminating their agreement with MSN.

The reason that ppc is popular is because it's extremely targeted advertising - I decide which search terms / ads are working and continue to refine them. I do not want Microsoft to 'use matching criteria other than keyword searches' WITHOUT my opt-in.

No word from the adCenter rep on these new changes.

Barry offers some possible suggestions as to why Microsoft changed their Terms of Services. He told me:

This is not the first time Microsoft automatically added their advertisers to the content network program without their consent. When Microsoft launched their content network they did so by switching their advertisers into the program and then requiring them to opt out after the fact. In this case, I believe it may be similar, in that Microsoft wants to cover themselves by saying they "may" display their ads in other areas and via non-keyword searches (hence the content network and possibly via behavioral targeting methods).

That seems to fit with the sentiment at WebmasterWorld:

what it means is that they couldn't sell their content distribution, so it is now bundled into their search product. Plummeting ROI will ensue.

First they auto-opt you in to content, and you have to go in and opt out - if you are aware. Then the choice is taken away.

Discussion continues at Search Engine Watch and WebmasterWorld.

The adCenter blog announced last week that they will be expanding the content network, to allow more Microsoft adCenter advertisers to bid in the content network.

The thing is, if you get a notification of your account being upgraded into this test, you will have to manually opt out, if you do not want to participate.

Your campaigns will automatically be upgraded to include distribution on content pages within the Microsoft network.

If you want to participate in the test, US advertisers can requested an invite here.

If you don't, and you are upgraded, make sure to disable it within your account.

This does not mean Microsoft is accepting publishers like Google's AdSense or Yahoo!'s YPN program. It means Microsoft is accepting invites from advertisers to advertiser on their content network.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums & WebmasterWorld.

A WebmasterWorld thread reports that notifications are being sent to advertisers that on January 25, 2007, they will be automatically included in the Microsoft content network. Other members confirmed the email, but I do not have a copy myself.

One member said:

The email stated that my current settings will be changed and I will HAVE to start using the new Content Beta. With NO option to opt out, just stating that it is going to happen on 1/25/07.

I suspect there must be a way to opt out, but maybe it is not clear. He said he called adCenter support, but they "tried to show [him] how to opt out, but had no clue themselves."

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

So last night I was upgraded to participate in the Microsoft Content Ads Beta program. Now I only see a way to place my ads, as an advertiser, in the content network. I do not see any way as a publisher to place these ads on my web site and get paid for clicks. The added feature for advertisers is under "Targeting", it says "Select a distribution method for this ad group." You can check off "Search" or "Content" or both. Here is a screen capture, fyi - the question-mark icon doesn't currently work for me (says forbidden access).

This is a limited beta, so many of you won't see this added feature, I believe. I'll keep you posted on what I can, as a I learn more.

More details on Content Ads at About Contextual Advertising on MSN and out past coverage of Microsoft Content Ads is always available to you.

Forum discussion at Search Engine Roundtable Forums.

Update: Marketing Shifts claims Microsoft pre-launched content ads on Microsoft's MSN Money Central. On this page there is an ad at the bottom that appears to be a contextual ad, but with no named provider.

This is what the ad looks like:

Also, MSN did tell me that a select few sites are pre-testing this feature, so it does make sense that Microsoft would test it on their own properties.

A small case study, very small case study, posted at DigitalPoint Forums shows how a person who has Google AdSense on three different sites, has the highest click through rate on his ads on the site that is most tailored to women and girls.

(1) Woman tailored site has 40% CTR with 200 uniques a day.
(2) Cell phone site has 1% CTR with 500-600 uniques a day.
(3) Unknown site has 2% CTR with 1200 unique visitors a day.

He concludes that women are more likely to click on contextual ads.

Well, that is a hard conclusion to make. Of course, the target user is a huge factor in one's earnings. But there are a ton of variables on any single page that can encourage and influence a person (male or female) to click or not to click.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

After tons of speculation, Microsoft has finally come out to say that Microsoft adCenter Content Ads program is expected to be launched early Fall. As an FYI - I have asked to beta test it, so I hope to hear back soon on that and share the ads with you, like I have done with AdSense and YPN. Here is the official email sent out to the press and bloggers;

On behalf of everyone on the Microsoft adCenter team, I’m excited to announce that we will be starting our pilot of Microsoft adCenter Content Ads early this fall. 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. Like our search advertising product, it will also utilize our demographic targeting, geo-targeting and incremental bidding tools to help our advertisers reach the audience they want. Our Content Ads pilot will start as an invitation-only pilot, limited to selected current adCenter advertisers.

If you are interested in participating, please reply back and I will send you additional information. This is your opportunity to drive change and improvement in our Content Ads product, and we hope you’re as excited about it as we are.

Also, adCenter411, the Ad Center rep, posted in WebmasterWorld thread saying, "I can't comment a lot about this, except to say later this fall, adCenter will be running a pilot for our contextual-based advertising option. Stay tuned. :)" Also, JenSense has some more insight into this announcement.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

A thread at DigitalPoint Forums had an interesting title, Are you click-o-phobic? I never really thought about this. Publishers are so trained not to click on their own ads, it becomes second nature to look at the ads, but never ever click on them. This constant wrist slapping training has possibly caused some to subconsciously never click on any contextual advertisement from Google or Yahoo and the others. Honestly, if you are a publisher, do you feel a weird sense of gratification or accomplishment after clicking on a contextual ad, on any site? I believe that I have a weird feeling after clicking on one of those ads.

Click-O-Phobia is the proper term for such a condition.

Do you have click-o-phobia? Are you click-o-phobic? Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

As part of the SES Advertising Track, this session covers the considerations for running your PPC ads in a contextual environment. Andrew Goodman moderates and presents. Other speakers include: Brady Byrd of NewGate Internet and Peter Hershberg of Reprise Media.

Andrew Goodman starts out with a description of contextual ads and a poll: How many are running contextual ads and makes up over 20% of spend. Over 30? About 10-20% of the audience raised their hands.

First up is Peter Hershberg of Reprise Media. He starts by explaining what contextual advertising is. Shows contextual ad exmaples from the New York Times.

Benefits of contextual advertising:

Search engines benefit as contextual ads have been a significant revenue generator. Contextual ads allow search engines to monetize 85% of pages on the internet.

Publishers benefit from a new revenue stream, accessing thousands of advertisers they may have not otherwise had access to.

Advertisers benefit from the additional sources of traffic.

Search engines serve as a point of contact to a huge universe of advertising opportunities. Contextual started in 2003 and are dominated by Google. With the "monopoly" over the contextual advertising market, Google made few changes until 2005 when Yahoo launched the Yahoo Publisher Network (YPN). Major revisions in Google's program followed shortly. Was it a cooincidence?

Changes in the Google program include the ability to place separate bids per ad group, being able to track separate ads at the AdGroup level, being able to choose sites to run your ads on and being able to pay a CPM and build your own network.

Contextual advertising still has a ways to go. Gives example of CNN where ads are displayed from Yahoo (YPN) where some are relevant, some are not. Shows another example where all YPN ads are irrrelevant. Explains this will happen as Yahoo develops the number of advertisers in their program.

Competitors in the space include Amazon that is beta-testing a contextual ad network and affiliates. Also MSN ContentAds with a planned beta launch sometime in 2006. It will be interesting to see what MSN rolls out.

There's been progress, but there's a lot more opportunity with contextual advertising. Contextual is an opportunity to expand beyond search. You can now go online with Google and bid on print ads. Google's acquisition of dMark will enable advertisers the opportunity to bid on ads via radio.

Advertisers would do well to understand the market and where it's going for a competitive advantage.

What's next? Distribution through additional media, targeting enabling better results for advertisers and a better user experience for users. Also specialisation, where search marketers today may become the advertising agencies of the future.

Next up is Andrew Goodman who did a short presentation covering the contextual ad landscape. Only a small number of advertisers are tracking contextual well enough to understand how well it's performing for them.

Gives example of a client that was not tracking well and putting a lot of energy into regular PPC ads, but most of their conversions were coming from contextual ads. Shows another example of how Flickr tested using tags to display contextual ads.

Another area place where contextual ads appear are with direct navigation and parked domains. Growth in direct navigation revenue averages at $170 per domain and is a significant market.

Shows example of client case study where contextual ads were a better match for going after long tail keywords.

Yet another case study showed what not to do. Client ran short term campaigns and not ongoing. No tracking and the content ad bids were the same as search. Much too high. Lesson was to separate content bidding from search bidding.

CPM model: Site targeting with Google. Has been more of a challenge than anticipated.

Content targeting is successful in very specific situations, but not all. It's obvious that it takes some testing and consideration to learn the ins and outs of contextual advertising.

Next up is Brad Berg of NewGate Internet who presents on optimization techniques for Google AdSense. They've found that non-retail does better than retail with contextual ads. He explains that a puchase is more of a commitment for the user than filling out a lead form or downloading something.

Overviews how AdSense works.

Be sure to separate content and search campaigns. Basics of campaign creation. Google AdWords offers more tools to make this easier. When you separate campaigns, don't make them duplicates of each other. It's important to focus on themes and bundle the keyword concepts together in to smaller ad groups. The keywords and the ad creative work together to create the theme.

It's imporant to track content campaigns uniquely. Give a unique tracking url for each keyword in the AdGroup. Use a default and unique url for each AdGroup.

With Google AdWords, use "Fast Track" to create tags for all your URLs and it will enable you to learn more about the traffic you get including: search/content clicks, which creative was used and which website generated the click. You would then need to create an application to extract the additional information for use in campaign analysis.

On Google AdWords reporting, AdGroup reports do not report on content clickthroughs by individual keywords. AdSense does send clickthroughs to specific URLs via the destination URL you can assign to a keyword. The URL report does not report sending traffic to specific URLs, but to the campaign default URL.

Use the matching options in AdWords with your contextual campaigns as you would with search. Also consider using unique creative for your content campaigns. Avoid using dynamic keyword inclusion for content creative.

Barry Chu from Yahoo and Emily White from Google answered questions from the audience.

SES NYC Tag: sesny2006

JenSense had a really nice find, I mean really nice find. She discovered based on reviewing a session she is speaking at, at the Mix06 conference. Go to the sessions and select "Jed Nahum" from the speaker drop down list, and click "search." Up comes this information;

Introducing adCenter – Microsoft’s Next Generation Advertising Platform
Speaker(s): David Jakubowski, Jed Nahum
Session Type(s): Breakout
adCenter is the next generation of online advertising that will allow you to conveniently plan, execute, and adjust your online advertising programs. Get the insider view of our current search advertising pilot in the U.S., our plans for ContentAds in 2006 and a preview of the innovations we're testing at the Microsoft adLabs.

Remember where I over heard Jed Nahum at SES, I wrote MSN Contextual Ad Program Coming Soon? Well based on this information, it looks like the MSN Contextual Ad program is named ContentAds and at least a limited beta will be released in 2006.

I really have no idea why the forums are not buzzing about this. I started a thread at Search Engine Roundtable Forums.

Just overheard Jed Nahum from MSN Search trying to pick up a beta tester for its contextual advertising program - picking up a publisher for the program. That is all I know right now.

Why Did I post this? I have no relationship with MSN, they are the only major engine that I have nothing to do with. So with them, I have no obligation to them, like I do with Google, Yahoo, and Ask.

One person starts a thread named MSN Adsense? at WebmasterWorld and before you know it, you have ten replies.

I have no heard of any MSN AdSense program. Of course we have the new MSN adCenter Pilot Program but any word of a contextual ad program like AdSense or YPN? Not that I heard of.

I am sure they are thinking about working on it or actually working on a contextual advertising program. But right now, nothing that I know of.

Update: JenSense has some info on this from a while back, MSN jumps in with talk about their new contextual ad program.