MSN AdCenter - Just got Started

Got around to activating my MSN AdCenter account today. I'm only about 1/2 hour into it so far so not a lot of details to comment on yet.

The interface is pretty self explanitory if you've played in the PPC market for awhile. There are some nice targeting options (time of day, age/sex, etc) that I plan to further explore this week. I just wanted to get a few keywords running and see how it goes. All new ads/keywords have to pass editorial review so I imagine I should start seeing some activity in 24 - 48 hours.

Anyone else using AdCenter yet? If so, what are your opinions so far?

 

I didn't even know this was out until you mentioned it!

I tried going to signup and they said it was for people with invites only... I did a little snooping around and was able to bypass that page and get signed up

I'll let you know what I think of it in 24 hours after I've used it !

 

I gues this is US only? us poor UK relations

 

I'm pretty sure it's only open to US residents at this time.

 

OK, here's my first question about AdCenter. If anyone has any insight it would be helpful.

I entered a few of my more popular (tens of millions of impressions per month in Yahoo & Google) keywords into AdCenter. My ads and keywords were approved last night. Almost 24 hours later, not even a single impression for any of the keywords. I read that this data (impressions and clicks) is updated each hour so I figured I must have screwed something up.

I called up AdCenter support and aksed how long until impression and clicks started to show up in my control panel. I was put on hold for 5 minutes and then told that unless my bid was within the top 8 my ad would never be displayed. Apparantly MSN is only running 8 ads per keyword. I asked how would I know if my bid was within the top 8 and was told I should check the FAQ....which I already had - it mentions nothing that I can find about only 8 ads being displayed and how to determine if your bid is sufficient to get some impressions.

The rep next suggested that I look at the keyword tool in MSN AdCenter. I already had but I figured I would again. I entered in 1 of my keywords and my bid. The keyword tool said my average position for that word is 1.14...same as it did yesterday when I set the keyword up

The rep responded with a minute or two of silence and the suggested I wait a few more hours to see what happens.

So I guess my question is to anyone who has used AdCenter how do you actually get an ad running?

ps - I have done searches on MSN myself to see if my ads are displaying and there's just a delay with the reporting. I haven't been able to get an ad to show for any of my keywords.

EDIT - it gets more interesting. When I look at one of my account screens it says I have been charged $x.xx so far....but no impressions or clicks are being reported anywhere in the account. I had a rep look at it and she said she saw the same thing. I think it's broken They are supposed to call me back and let me know.

 

My loophole didnt work.. could only show ads to singapore! lame..

 

Could you not have the people of Singapore as a new temporary audience?!

 

Update:

The rep who told me MSN was only running 8 ads was incorrect. I assumed that was the case but didn't want to post it until I had received confirmation.

I haven't received a call back on the issues I posted about yesterday, although today I'm noticing activity in my account. The confusing part is that the "main" screen (Orders) appears to be the last part of the account that's updated. The billing section is updated with your charges, and I see data in the reports section when I run reports, but the Orders screen, which kind doubles as an account summary screen, appears to only update once every 24 hours or so.

The actual reports, now that they have some data, are pretty informative. I've attached a sample of a report that tracks average position and CTR by hour of the day.

 

Any clues on how to get an invite?

 

I applied awhile back...don't know what criteria they use for who they accept.

It's been, um, interesting so far to say the least. I just imported one of my Adwords campaigns into the MSN AdCenter yesterday. Will be interesting to see how AdCenter does "head to head" with Adwords.

 

i also think same that it's only opeend for U.S

 

how are the tools like? comparing adwords with adcenter that is..

And does anyone know timeframes for the beta?

 

Is the pay out beter then google?

 

REALLY REALLY REALLY want to play with this...I have signed up but no response yet...

 

The tools are pretty decent for the beta. I actually like some elements of them better than Adwords. For example the keyword/traffic estimation tool provides actual numbers (based on previous months searches) instead of graphs like Adwords does

No idea what the timeline for the beta is. Based on wehat I've seen so far my guess is they have months and months to go. This product is not quite ready for the mainstream yet.

 

Hi All,

Yes, the adCenter beta is just running in the US. However adCenter is currently running and available to all in the French and Singapore markets.

For Singapore you can sign up here: https://adcenter.msn.com/Signup.aspx?mkt=en-sg. Choose your preferred market via the drop down in the top right corner. Singapore info: http://advertising.msn.com.sg/Home/default.aspx?pageid=1

France sign up: https://adcenter.msn.com/default.aspx?mkt=fr-fr. Choose French in the drop down at top right. French info: http://advertising.msn.fr/accueil; http://advertising.msn.fr/Home/default.aspx?pageid=276