MSN to beta new contextual advertising

By Steve Malone

Posted on 4 Aug 2005 at 10:47

In a week that has already seen the search engine marketing business shaken up with announcements by Ask Jeeves and Yahoo!, now Microsoft is accelerating the roll out of its entry in the booming search engine advertising business.

According to the Wall Street Journal, MSN is to begin testing a new 'MSN Keywords' contextual advertising service in the US as early as this October. The beta programme, which will be part of MSN adCenter, will consist of around 500 of MSN's key advertisers selected by invitation only.

As with both Google and Yahoo, the MSN Keywords service will be a bid-based auction whereby potential advertisers bid on particular keywords which are targeted to search queries typed in by users.

After announcing its intention to create an MSN search marketing business Microsoft began a pilot programme in France and Singapore, even though it is still contractually bound to Yahoo's Search Marketing (formerly Overture) Solutions until next year at the earliest. Nevertheless, Microsoft seems to be accelerating its rollout.

The formal launch of MSN Keywords, probably next year, will create a market with four companies offering essentially the same product but for different audiences creating a wealth of opportunity for search marketing companies.

Microsoft will also have noticed recent Forrester research that estimates that total US online advertising and marketing spending will hit a staggering $14.7 billion in 2005 - a 23 percent increase over 2004.

Earlier this week Ask Jeeves said it was announcing its own Sponsored Listings service, while Yahoo! made its long anticipated bid for Google's AdSense network of small and medium sized web site and blog partners with an expansion of itsContent Match for small publishers programme.