Microsoft pilots contextual online ad service

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 4 May 2006 at 17:55

Microsoft has officially launched its contextual online ad service under the banner Microsoft adCenter in the US, with a UK pilot billed for June.

Redmond had been weaning itself off Yahoo! Search Marketing adverts for some time as its US pilot progressed, serving just 30 per cent of ads across its MSN network from Yahoo!.

Now adCenter clients will see their ads on a range of Microsoft online properties, including its Live platform comprising Live Mail, Spaces and Safety Center as well as its Office, Xbox and Mobile sites.

Launched at the seventh annual MSN Strategic Account Summit, CEO Steve Ballmer, said: 'Ad-supported software services are an integral part of Microsoft's plans to give consumers access to a broader variety of digital media, whenever they want and on whatever device they prefer... Our close partnership with the ad community is extremely important to us as we evolve Microsoft from a software company into the world's largest, most attractive provider of online media through MSN, Windows Live and adCenter.'

Microsoft's efforts to move its cash cows of office software and other services online have attracted a lot of flak: Ballmer's recent announcement that it is plunging millions of dollars into MSN prompted the largest share drop for five years, wiping out more than $30bn.

Yet it is determined to enter the ring with online giants Google and Yahoo! for a share in the massive online ad market.

adCenter offers advertisers a comprehensive range of analytical tools as well as easy to use systems for advertising campaigns. But Redmond still has a way to go to catch up its rivals. According to Nielsen Netratings, it places third in the US search market with just 11 per cent, compared with 49 per cent for Google and 22 per cent for Yahoo!.