I heard somewhere that Microsoft is coming with a competing ad program to adsense ... Does anyone know when this will be available ?
Microsoft is good about announcing industry important products/services that won't be available on time...mainly as a means to keep customers from signing long-term contracts with competitors. IBM used to be the king at this, but their settlement with the government prohibits that practice now...I haven't looked into whether the same ruling is in effect for MSFT...but since I'm a shareholder, I guess I don't mind so much.
It will be interesting to see which comes first. An actual pop up blocking capability in IE or an "AdSense" type services from MSN.
well thats what they said about MSN Search aswell .... and I still don't see any real numbers coming from there ... and on almost all my keywords I'm in the top 5 ....
Personally, I don't think another quality PPC program will result in lower CPC rates. If you are already making money from CPC advertising, then everyone will just go to the new player (MSN) and pay the same thing per click as they were before.
I'm afraid they will wait until IE7 is out which will for sure block adsense by default. Then they will release their PPC program which isn't blocked by IE. That's the easiest way for them to get rid of Google.
I don't think MSN should play follow the leader, instead they should innovate and be creative. Create a new trend. PPC is getting old and its time for a change. While they will be coming in to PPC market Google will be changing the game with some other advertising platform...like they are always 1 step ahead of the game. I really think MSN should re-think this and possibly try a different avenue...something no one has tried yet or something no one has been successful with yet. Like UNLIMITED-Flat rate PPC. Or just a different direction altogether. This same bidding on keywords is getting old...I'm getting tired of paying for these fraudlent clicks and not getting anything in return. Let's see...these are the advertising platforms where the internet has been there and done that: Banner Advertising Text Advertising PPC Link Exchange Pop-up/Pop-under Advertising Email / Newsletter Advertising Direct Mail Print Advertising Word of Mouth Traffic Exchange What's left? Where do we go from here? - Cell phone / GPS advertising....ads popup on your cell phone / GPS LCD screen according to your geo-location...if you are near a McDonalds then a McDonalds ad will appear...near a Walmart then a Walmart ad will appear...etc. And Google Maps is intergrated for directions - Interactive Advertising...when watching a TV program or when a commercial comes on your TV screen then relevant ads are displayed on the webpage of your computer which you are surfing at the time! That would be amazing! If MSN got the media center to take off strong then that would have been their doorway for that. Or what if MSN did something simple such as: - 2 for 1 PPC. For every 2 clicks that equal 1 sale (click). So instead of paying for every click you pay for every 2 clicks...that would work, but still doesn't elimnate click fraud. - PPL (Pay Per Level) or PPD (Pay Per Depth). Pay Per every Level or every Depth within the website. The visitor is tracked from the clickpoint to the endpoint. If the visitor goes 2 levels or 3 levels deep within your site then you pay for the visitor (click), but if they do not make it that far then you do not pay or you only pay partial for the visitor (click). Now that should eliminate click fraud or at least slow it down. We have options...but these giants just need to put their heads together and make it happen. I'm almost certain Google will be the ones to change the game once again...as they are always 1 step ahead of the game. As you see MSN is trying to get into PPC 5 years late. But I honestly think it was because MSN was locked into contracts...so they couldn't just start their own PPC...but they should have had enough time to come up with something different. It will be interesting to see what they have developed to compete.
I personally feel that Google AdSense is here to stay for many more years to come with little competition