MSN AdCenter Wishlist

A couple things I think would really helpful for people using the MSN AdCenter:

1) A better import process. I followed the instructions provided to the letter and they didn't work. I ended up downloading one of the sample templates and just copying and pasting my info to get it to work. At least let us cut and past keywords. if you don't import you have to type them in one at a time...

2) More frequently updated stats on the "main page" you see when you log in. The first set of stats you see appears to be the ones updated the least. You really have to dig into the account to see what's happening real time.

3) Billing options - customers spending more than $x,xxx should be presented with an option (with approved credit of course) to be billed.

4) Account information (keywords, performance, etc) export features.

5) Better support. I know everything is new and support reps are just being trained but being put on hold for 5 minutes to wait for answer - that turns out to be wrong - will scare people away faster than it will bring them in. I've received better support in various webmaster forums than I have from calling MSN Adcenter support.

6) Clarification on, or, more accurate reports. I set up about 500 keywords yesterday. They all still show a status of "pending", meaning they haven't been approved or denied, but according to the report I'm looking at they generated 300 something impressions since I imported them yesterday.

7) An improved FAQ. Here's an example from the currect FAQ:

Question:
If I already advertise on other search advertising programs, is there a manner in which I can migrate my keyword lists and advertisements to MSN Keywords?

Answer:
MSN Keywords allows you to import your ads and keyword lists from Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Solutions Export/import instructions are available to assist you in migrating your ads to MSN Keywords. If you would like assistance, you can also register to participate in the adCenter QuickLaunch service and a QuickLaunch Marketing Analyst will assist you with the migration.

How about a link in that answer to the location where the import info is? That's pretty common, the FAQ says yes or no but doesn't provide any links to the info you need to act on the answer you've received.

Overall the FAQ is just hard to navigate and get answers from. It took me forever to find the import instructions - that's because the link/page they are on is called "Friends of Google & Yahoo".

 

Following up on the support issue mentioned above, I need to share a perfect example of how Adcenter support just isn't cutting it.

I was importing keywords today and got booted from my account. When I tried logging back in it kept telling me my username was not recognized. I did the normal - clear cookies, open a new browser, etc, etc and was still getting the same message.

Called support and after 15 + minutes of being on hold on and off I was told that all accounts were down for maintenance. I asked for ETA for them being back up and was told "it won't be today, try again tomorrow." My resposne was something along the lines of "you have my card and authorization to bill me thousands of dollars a day but you're telling me I can't have access to my account until sometime tomorrow and you provided me with no notice?" The response was along the lines of "yes, that's what I'm telling you."

I went on to tell her that outages need to be announced to the advertisers ahead of time, especially ones that will last 12 + hours. I got the yea I know and we will do better response...

20 minutes later I can log back into my account without any problems.

I'm starting to get the impression that the front line people answering the Adcenter support phones have less of an understanding of the product than advertisers who have been using it for a couple days. Everytime I call with a question the answers they are giving me are just flat out wrong. If you don't know the answer just say it, don't feed me a line of BS just to get me off the phone.

Move the support issue up to #1 on my wish list.

 

All excellent ideas. Nice lists.