News comes out that MSN Adcenter will be arriving in June to the USA in full force.
This is big for advertisers to have another search/contextual option, and big for publishers because MSN is sure to launch a contextual network quickly after to compete with Adsense and YPN.
One interesting note in the article is:
The launch is also a major step toward Microsoft’s broader adCenter ambitions, which executives say will eventually be a system for offering companies ways to buy online advertising space on multiple platforms, ranging from its blogging sites to its newly launched Office Live system for offering business software and services online.
It will be interesting to see how much traffic the Office Live system will create for advertising. And that could be very valuable inventory. The plot thickens.
I started a trial on adCenter and am so far very disappointed. First of all, it is not as easy to use as Yahoo/Overture, and AdWords is much easier. You have to enter keywords one at a time, instead of being able to cut and paste from a list.
More important, you can’t manage your campaign unless you’re running IE on Windows. So I can’t run it on my Mac at home and I can’t run it on my preferred browser at work (FireFox). I can manage my AdWords and Overture campaigns on all my computers and browsers. Typical Microsoft.
I complained, and here was their reply:
Thank you for contacting MSN adCenter Support, my name is Brian.
Also, MSN adCenter is a Web-based program that can be used on any computer that meets the following basic requirements.
Basic requirements:
-A working Internet connection.
-Microsoft Windows 98 or a later version of Microsoft Windows installed.
-Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.5 or 6 of Microsoft Internet Explorer installed.
For optimal display, we recommend that you meet the following requirements:
-The display resolution is set to 1024 x 768 or a higher resolution.
-The screen resolution DPI is set to Normal size (96 DPI).
See your operating system’s Help file for specific instructions.
For full functionality, have the following requirements:
-Macromedia Flash version 6.0 or a later version of Macromedia Flash installed. Macromedia Flash is a Web browser plug in that is used in MSN adCenter to display rich graphics and animation. To download Macromedia Flash, visit the following Macromedia Web site:
http://www.macromedia.com/international/selector/
-Allow for pop-up windows for the MSN adCenter Web site. Pop-up windows are additional small windows that ‘pop up’ over the Web page that you are viewing. If you use a pop-up blocker, turn it off when you use MSN adCenter. For specific instructions, see the Help file for the Web browser or pop-up blocker that you are using. A pop-up blocker is a program that stops most secondary windows, typically smaller windows from ‘popping up’ over the Web page that you are viewing unless you grant permission.
Thanks for the feedback Warren. It’s a shame that they don’t support Firefox or Apple machines with Adcenter. I imagine it’s because they’re using some fancy features that are only possible using IE, otherwise they’re stupid. It doesn’t seem to me like long-term success for them can happen if they don’t go cross-browser and cross-platform with the product.