Microsoft adCenter
Encyclopedia
Microsoft adCenter is the division of the Microsoft Network (MSN) responsible for MSN's advertising services. Microsoft adCenter provides pay per click
advertisements. This is a service aimed at people who want to advertise a product. Microsoft also has a (still in beta) service for webmasters who want to monetize on their site: Microsoft pubCenter
.
Microsoft was the last of the "Big Three" search engine
s (Microsoft
, Google
and Yahoo!
) to develop its own system for delivering pay per click
(PPC) ads. Until the beginning of 2006, all of the ads displayed on the Bing (formerly MSN Search) search engine were supplied by Overture (and later Yahoo!). MSN collected a portion of the ad revenue in return for displaying Yahoo!'s ads on its search engine.
As search marketing grew, Microsoft began developing its own system, Microsoft adCenter, for selling PPC advertisements directly to advertisers. As the system was phased in, MSN search showed Yahoo! and Microsoft adCenter advertising in its search results. In June 2006, the contract between Yahoo! and Microsoft had expired and Microsoft was displaying only ads from adCenter until 2010. In January 2010 Microsoft announced a take over of Yahoo! and the combination of Bing, formerly MSN Search, to form the Microsoft Search Alliance. A complete transition of all Yahoo! sponsored ad clients to Microsoft adCenter occurred in October 2010.
In November 2006 Microsoft Acquired DeepMetrix, a company situated in Gatineau, Canada, that created web-analytics software. Microsoft has built new product AdCenter Analytics based on the acquired technology. In October, 2007 the Beta version of Microsoft Project Gatineau was released to a limited number of participants.
In May 2007, Microsoft agreed to purchase the digital marketing solutions parent company, aQuantive, for roughly $6 billion.
Microsoft acquired ScreenTonic
on May 3, 2007, AdECN on July 26, 2007, and YaData on February 27, 2008 and merged their technologies into adCenter.
On February 23, 2009, Publisher Leadership Council was created under the umbrella of Microsoft Advertising. The council was responsible to deliver the next-generation advertising platform for the publishers of digital media resulting in the formation of Microsoft pubCenter
.
(PPC) on their ad and the advertisement's click-through rate
(CTR) to determine how frequently an advertisement is shown. This system encourages advertisers to write effective ads and to advertise only on searches which are relevant to their advertisement.
Microsoft adCenter allows advertisers to target their ads by restricting their ads to a given set of demographics and by increasing their bids whenever the ad is seen by a user of a certain demographic. As of November 2006, no other PPC advertising system has a similar feature. Similarly, adCenter allows advertisers to run their ads on specific days of the week or certain times of day.
Microsoft adCenter provides both UI and Web service API front end to advertisers, both are built on Microsoft .Net 2.0 framework. A Windows-only desktop application allows users to manage Microsoft adCenter campaigns offline, or to make bulk changes easily, as well as offering performance alerts and keyword research features.
Pay per click
Pay per click is an Internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, where advertisers pay the publisher when the ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market...
advertisements. This is a service aimed at people who want to advertise a product. Microsoft also has a (still in beta) service for webmasters who want to monetize on their site: Microsoft pubCenter
Microsoft pubCenter
Microsoft pubCenter is a publisher's ad serving application developed by Microsoft in addition to Microsoft adCenter, which allows advertisers to place ads on search engines as well as select MSN web sites or applications. Currently, in its beta version, Microsoft pubCenter is only available for...
.
History
Search engine
A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information...
s (Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
and Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
) to develop its own system for delivering pay per click
Pay per click
Pay per click is an Internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, where advertisers pay the publisher when the ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market...
(PPC) ads. Until the beginning of 2006, all of the ads displayed on the Bing (formerly MSN Search) search engine were supplied by Overture (and later Yahoo!). MSN collected a portion of the ad revenue in return for displaying Yahoo!'s ads on its search engine.
As search marketing grew, Microsoft began developing its own system, Microsoft adCenter, for selling PPC advertisements directly to advertisers. As the system was phased in, MSN search showed Yahoo! and Microsoft adCenter advertising in its search results. In June 2006, the contract between Yahoo! and Microsoft had expired and Microsoft was displaying only ads from adCenter until 2010. In January 2010 Microsoft announced a take over of Yahoo! and the combination of Bing, formerly MSN Search, to form the Microsoft Search Alliance. A complete transition of all Yahoo! sponsored ad clients to Microsoft adCenter occurred in October 2010.
In November 2006 Microsoft Acquired DeepMetrix, a company situated in Gatineau, Canada, that created web-analytics software. Microsoft has built new product AdCenter Analytics based on the acquired technology. In October, 2007 the Beta version of Microsoft Project Gatineau was released to a limited number of participants.
In May 2007, Microsoft agreed to purchase the digital marketing solutions parent company, aQuantive, for roughly $6 billion.
Microsoft acquired ScreenTonic
ScreenTonic
ScreenTonic SA is a Paris-based company founded in 2001. ScreenTonic is a mobile advertising company, and it has been a pioneer in the field.The most prominent product developed by ScreenTonic is the STAMP technology platform, which...
on May 3, 2007, AdECN on July 26, 2007, and YaData on February 27, 2008 and merged their technologies into adCenter.
On February 23, 2009, Publisher Leadership Council was created under the umbrella of Microsoft Advertising. The council was responsible to deliver the next-generation advertising platform for the publishers of digital media resulting in the formation of Microsoft pubCenter
Microsoft pubCenter
Microsoft pubCenter is a publisher's ad serving application developed by Microsoft in addition to Microsoft adCenter, which allows advertisers to place ads on search engines as well as select MSN web sites or applications. Currently, in its beta version, Microsoft pubCenter is only available for...
.
Technology
Similar to Google AdWords, Microsoft adCenter uses both the maximum amount an advertiser is willing to pay per clickPay per click
Pay per click is an Internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, where advertisers pay the publisher when the ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market...
(PPC) on their ad and the advertisement's click-through rate
Click-through rate
Clickthrough rate is a way of measuring the success of an online advertising campaign. The clickthrough rate of an advertisement is defined as the number of clicks on an ad divided by the number of times the ad is shown , expressed as a percentage. For example, if a banner ad is delivered 100...
(CTR) to determine how frequently an advertisement is shown. This system encourages advertisers to write effective ads and to advertise only on searches which are relevant to their advertisement.
Microsoft adCenter allows advertisers to target their ads by restricting their ads to a given set of demographics and by increasing their bids whenever the ad is seen by a user of a certain demographic. As of November 2006, no other PPC advertising system has a similar feature. Similarly, adCenter allows advertisers to run their ads on specific days of the week or certain times of day.
Microsoft adCenter provides both UI and Web service API front end to advertisers, both are built on Microsoft .Net 2.0 framework. A Windows-only desktop application allows users to manage Microsoft adCenter campaigns offline, or to make bulk changes easily, as well as offering performance alerts and keyword research features.
External links
- Microsoft adCenter
- adCenter Community
- Microsoft Advertising Intelligence (a keyword research and optimization tool, formerly Add-in for Excel Version 1.0)