MSN adCenter is off and running as the latest platform in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Whether it can compete with Google AdWords remains to be seen, but adCenter does have three things going for it--exceptional targeting capabilities, MSN data, and Microsoft money.
With adCenter, advertisiers can target users based on gender, geography, and time of day or week. Although keyword costs rise with greater targeting, the cost figures to be more than offset by higher conversions. So far, adCenter conversion rates versus Google and Yahoo! are indeed higher.
MSN's enormous database makes this nifty targeting work. MSN collects user information from subscriptions and registrations for its many news and service Web sites. With upwards of 40 million users, MSN offers advertisers a market far too large to ignore.
And having just brought adCenter out of beta in August, Microsoft continues to enhance and invest in the platform. adCenter Labs, adCenter's research center, will be rolling out new behavior predicting, forecasting and analytic tools to further help advertisers minimize costs and maximize conversions. Microsoft recently acquired DeepMetrix, a Web analytics firm, which will be integrated into the adCenter platform by mid-2007. DeepMetrix is one of twenty-two acquisitions by Microsoft this year, and there is no sign of a letup.
Whoast recognized the potential of adCenter early on, and has been using it frequently for PPC campaigns of varying size. We will be reporting on our impressions in future posts, and we welcome your feedback and opinions on adCenter!
