Home > Knowledge Base > Search Engine Marketing Articles
Microsoft Adcentre - The new face of pay per click advertising
Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing (formerly Overture) face new competition from Microsoft's newly released PPC program, Microsoft AdCenter.
Currently, MSN still displays search ads from Yahoo! Search Marketing, through a contract that runs until July 2006, but the new technology from Microsoft is just a few steps away from being fully implemented. In the first phase, MSN AdCenter was put to the test in France and Singapore and it was launched to public access in Singapore on August 31 and in France on September 26. The results from the two pilot countries were very promising so, apparently, the paid search program will go into beta testing in the United States in October 2005.
Advertisers love the PPC system rather than others because it's cheaper and more targeted; they only pay when their ads get clicks. Until now the two major choices for PPC were Google Adwords and Yahoo! Search Marketing. However, when a third major competitor turns up, one can only hope that cost per click (CPC) gets cheaper, thus lowering the advertising costs.
As to what the new service features, the competition promises to be tough, especially in the research and targeting tools area. The advertisers are able to specify what kind of audience they wish to target by demographics - geographic location, gender, age group, lifestyle segment and time of day - and the system can provide keywords to be used in search campaigns. All these data can be accessed before the advertisers place their ads.
Even more, it seems that the Adcenter program will provide feedback related to keywords performance and advertisers will be able to switch to more effective ones during the ad campaigns. Eric Hadley, senior director of advertising and marketing for MSN, says the new platform is meant to help users drive ROI from a search campaign beyond just knowing if somebody clicked on it, but also knowing if someone is likely to click on it.
As for Google Adwords and Yahoo! Search Marketing, they both provide geographical targeting but they don't have demographics features. Meanwhile, the new AdCenter platform goes more towards customer profiling and behavior.
Search engine advertisers can't wait to see their keyword based campaigns become even more targeted. However, they'll have to wait a little bit longer, because there's no serious encouragement that the full-scale deployment of AdCenter will be possible before the end of this year.
Other Search Engine Marketing Articles that might be of interest:
+ The ideal website for search engine marketing success!
+ Google continues to dominate the UK search engine marketplace
+ How search engine optimization fits into the rest of your online business.
+ The challenge of getting a listing on Google.
+ Validating your website for better Search Engine Optimization
+ Developing quality content is the key factor in search marketing success.
+ The Key to Successful Search Engine Marketing - Use both Search Engine Optimisation and Pay Per Click Advertising.
+ Paid Directory Submissions - Top 10 Tips
+ Googles cache and other useful research tools
+ Selecting the right search engine marketing and optimization services company
+ Search Engine Marketing Services : The Business Case
+ SEO Quick Start - 3 things you can do to improve search engine rankings immediately
+ Google Page Rank Explained
+ Directory Submission Checklist
+ Protecting your Search Engine Rankings for the future
+ Is your website doomed for failure before you've built it?
+ Getting one way inbound links. 5 Major strategies.
+ Creating a solid base for your search engine marketing
Should you require further information about our search engine optimization services please feel free to fill out our enquiry form or call us on 0845 658 0330.
search engine marketing services | search engine optimization services | pay per click services | link building | website analysis | consultancy | keyword research | competitor research
© 2006 e-Prominence Limited. Internet Marketing Consultants, Scotland
