adCenter Blog Has Moved To - www.adcentercommunity.com: Content Ads

Boost your adCenter traffic with Microsoft Content Ads

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:40:43 GMT

Last month we announced that Microsoft will become the exclusive provider of contextual and paid search ads for The Wall Street Journal Digital Network (WSJDN). Today, we're here to share some tips for how to get more quality clicks from our contextual network, which includes WSJ.com, Barrons.com, Marketwatch.com, as well as MSN Money, CBNC.com, EDGAR Online, FOX Sports, MSN Entertainment, and other partner sites .

Microsoft Content Ads ^Beta, available in the U.S., places content-targeted advertisements on relevant web pages across the Microsoft network and partner sites (mentioned above) – and offers the perfect opportunity to potentially increase your adCenter impressions and clicks as we expand our network of participating high-quality sites.

It's easy to extend your search campaigns to Content Ads, and you can set different bid prices for content clicks by using the Advanced Bidding function at both the ad group and keyword level. You can also see how your contextual ads are performing with advanced reporting features in the adCenter Report Center.

This screenshot illustrates how to choose Search, Content, or both distribution channels when creating a new campaign:

You can get more out of your Content Ads campaigns by:

Increasing your bids:
- Start with competitive bids to position your ad to appear. Remember that, unlike Search ads, there are a limited number of ads that appear on an editorial page – typically, 3-5 slots.
Monitoring your ROI with conversion tracking:
- Track your ROI with adCenter conversion tracking to help you regulate competitive bidding and adjust your bids as needed.
Writing compelling ad copy:
- Since users are not actively searching for products or services during a contextual ad experience, ad copy should be customized to attract a more passive audience.

Find out more about Microsoft Content Ads ^Beta on advertising.microsoft.com – and check out the Content Ads webinar.

It's official - Microsoft Content Ads Beta has shipped!

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 16:19:39 GMT

Today, we’re delighted to announce that Content Ads is now available to all US advertisers.

As we move from pilot to beta, we’re keeping focused on the things we’ve learned from the pilot. We want our advertisers to know that as we expand our network, we plan to keep two things in mind:

Maintaining a quality network that delivers advertisers high ROI

Part of achieving this goal will be concentrating our impression expansion efforts in key verticals. We’re currently focused on Finance, Health and Technology. We have additional inventory available (through partnerships with MSN Lifestyles, MSN Travel and more) so although there is broad opportunity – the volume during the beta will likely continue to be incremental for many advertisers as we expand the overall inventory diversity and volume.

Delivering advanced tools that provide advertisers control over distribution and pricing

New features such as site targeting, site exclusion and advanced reporting will roll out over time – we see the need for more controls running in parallel with our expansion efforts.

When we first began testing Content Ads in a small pilot last October, we were focused on delivering relevant ads on content pages. So we started small with a few placements on MSN properties and focused on testing our matching and ranking algorithms while keeping advertiser ROI high. 11 months later, we’ve grown the program to include a variety of Microsoft owned properties such as MSN Money, MSN Tech & Gadgets, Windows Marketplace and more. We also built out key controls so that advertisers have the tools they need to determine the right place (distribution controls) and right price (bid controls) for their ads.

What we’re most excited about is that today we have a quality network to offer – with quality impressions and quality clicks. Initial data has indicated that for the majority of advertisers, their Microsoft Content Ads performance will be on par with their Search Ads performance in terms of conversions per click and cost per conversion. We’re ecstatic about these kinds of results.

Thank you to all of our pilot participants – your feedback was so useful. We also want to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of contributors across the adCenter team, from development and product planning to marketing and customer service and support.

Brian, Saleel & Natala - Content Ads Product Team

For more information about Content Ads, check out:

Reminder: U.S. release of Microsoft Content Ads Beta on 8/29

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 19:42:31 GMT

As announced last week, tomorrow marks the U.S. advertiser release of Microsoft Content Ads Beta. Advertisers who haven’t been part of the Content Ads pilot will automatically be upgraded to include distribution on content pages within the Microsoft network.

Tomorrow you’ll begin to see new distribution controls, pricing, and reporting features in adCenter and your ads will begin delivering to content pages (if you have selected to do so).

Once your adCenter account is upgraded, you’ll have control over your campaigns through the following choices:

Distribution

- Hybrid: Run ads on Live Search and content pages using "hybrid" ad groups.

Existing ad groups will automatically be set to display on content pages at current search ad bid prices. You can also set new bids for your content clicks [see below].

- Turn off Content Ads.

At the ad group level: Within the Ad Group Settings tab, under the Targeting section, click the Select a distribution method for this ad group link, and clear the Content check box.
At the campaign level: On the Campaigns tab, select the check boxes next to those campaigns you’d like to edit. Click Bulk Edit. In the Edit settings for multiple campaigns section, from the Campaign settings drop-down list, select Content distribution, and click Apply. Please note that once you have turned off content distribution via Bulk Edit, you will have to manually adjust each ad group if you wish to turn content distribution back on in the future.

- Create content-only and search-only ad groups.

You can create a unique destination URL or have content-specific ad creative.

Pricing

- Set a separate bid price for your Content Ad clicks

Set a universal bid-price for all content bids in an ad group by choosing to set separate bid prices for content ads under the advanced bidding option.
Set a keyword specific bid price by selecting “bid for individual keywords” under the “advanced bidding” option.

Reporting

- You can run reports that separate content clicks from search clicks.

To learn more about using Content Ads, download the Content Ads Product Guide.

If you had decided to opt-out of Content Ads prior to the upgrade, using our online form, your ad groups will not be expanded. However, all new ad groups, by default, will have content distribution selected.

For more information, Check out our Content Ads Webinar for more information and as always, please free to contact adCenter Support if you have questions about Content Ads.

Also see our Content Ads Page on the Microsoft Advertising Site

Thanks!

Mel - adCenter Community Team

Microsoft adCenter Content Ads – Watch the Webinar!

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 17:11:25 GMT

If you are a US advertiser already participating in our Microsoft Content Ads pilot in the US or you have received a notification that your accounts will soon be upgraded to include Contact Ads, you may be interested in viewing our latest webinar, “Microsoft adCenter: Introduction to Content Ads.” In this webinar, you’ll learn:

How Microsoft Content Ads work
How your accounts will be upgraded
Where Content Ads are shown
Who you can reach via the Microsoft network
What choices you have with Content Ads, such as controlling distribution, setting keyword bids, and tracking performance

As a reminder, if you recently received an e-mail that your account will be upgraded, you will have control over where your campaigns are shown. You will have the choice to either run your ads on both search and content, turn-off content, or create content-only campaigns. To learn more, watch our webinar or view our recent post, “Upgrading to Microsoft Content Ads – Contextual advertising on the Microsoft network.” Another source of helpful information is our Frequently Asked Questions.

If you haven’t yet received an upgrade notice and you want to be considered for our next group of upgraded accounts, complete our sign-up form. Please note, the Content Ads pilot is currently only open to US advertisers.

We hope you find this webinar helpful and would love to hear your feedback.
Thanks,
Jeanie DuMont, Microsoft adCenter Community Team

Upgrading to Microsoft Content Ads – Contextual advertising on the US Microsoft network

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 19:19:44 GMT

As many of you know, we are currently rolling out our Microsoft Content Ads pilot—our contextual advertising offering in the U.S. This service allows your text ads to display next to relevant content on sites within the US Microsoft network, such as MSN’s Health & Fitness, Tech & Gadgets, Travel, and Money. We’ve been learning a lot throughout the pilot and we appreciate the feedback that we’ve received thus far. The pilot has been going really well and many of our advertisers are now benefiting by advertising on content pages within MSN that reach millions of high-quality consumers who are likely to buy online. We are now expanding the number of advertisers that will be able to participate in this pilot.

Content Ads Choices
Throughout the next few weeks, some of our U.S. advertisers will receive an e-mail notification that their accounts will be upgraded as part of the adCenter Content Ads pilot program. If you receive this notice, your campaigns will automatically be upgraded to include distribution on content pages within the Microsoft network. Advertisers whose campaigns are upgraded will have control over their campaigns and have the following choices:

Hybrid: Run your ads on Live Search and content pages using "hybrid" ad groups.
Your existing ad groups will automatically be set to display on content pages at your current search ad bid prices. You can also set new bids for your content clicks through the beta site.
Turn off Content Ads.
Within the Ad Group Settings tab, under the Targeting section, click the Select a distribution method for this ad group link, and clear the Content check box. You can learn more about this option by reading our help article.
Create content-only and search-only ad groups.
You can create a unique destination URL or have content-specific ad creative.

If you choose to run your ads on content pages, you’ll also have the ability to set separate pricing for content clicks. Content Ads uses the same bid structure as your search ads—you pay only when someone clicks your ad. However, you also have the choice of setting different bid prices for content clicks by using the Separate Bid Pricing feature within the Advanced Bidding Options. You can learn how by reading our recent in-depth post of how to set separate bid prices for Content Ads. We’ve also made it easy to track your performance for Content Ads with reporting that provides details on search performance separately from content performance.

Recommended approach for the Content Ads pilot
We recommend choosing the hybrid approach, as it is an easy way to access our high converting audience on the Microsoft network without having to make any changes. For instance, Microsoft Content Ads are displayed only on MSN published sites, no syndicated sites, delivering the MSN audience to the advertiser. Our network also has an impressive reach—delivering an audience of over 96 million unique visitors a month, 81% of whom purchased online in the past six months (source: Nielsen//NetRatings, Home & Work, January 2006).

Content Ads are displayed around site content chosen by consumers, providing specific targeting ability, and are matched to that content, making the Content Ad relevant to their interests. You can also use our powerful demographic targeting, geo-targeting and incremental bidding tools with Content Ads to help you reach the audience you want.

Other important information for the pilot
In addition to access to our content pages, advertisers whose accounts are upgraded will benefit from new features available only on the Microsoft adCenter beta site. Designed to help make campaign management easier and more productive, these features include the ability to import other online advertising campaigns, make bulk updates to keywords, perform full text search, and save favorites. Check out our webinar to learn more.

If you want to learn more about Microsoft Content Ads, check out our Frequently Asked Questions. If you haven’t yet received an upgrade notice and you want to be considered for our next group of upgraded accounts, you can fill out our sign-up form.

Thanks,
Jeanie DuMont
Microsoft adCenter Community Team

Setting individual keyword bids for Microsoft adCenter Content Ads

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 23:46:41 GMT

As we’ve been ramping up our pilot of Microsoft adCenter Content Ads, we’ve been asked how advertisers can set individual keyword bids for content. While it’s not necessary to set individual bids for content, this option will give you additional control over your campaigns.

Selecting a distribution method
Before setting individual bids, first confirm that Content Ads are enabled for your ad group. If you are participating in the Content Ads pilot, then your ad groups have been automatically set to include content distribution. You can also confirm this by selecting your ad group. On the Ad Group Settings tab, look for the Targeting section and then click the Select a distribution method for this ad group link shown below. Options for distribution will then appear. If the Content check box is checked, your ad group is currently distributing on the content network. By the way, this is the same location where you can turn off Content distribution—simply clear the Content check box.

Setting individual keyword bids
Next, to set your keyword bids for content, click the Keyword Performance tab, and then click the Edit Bids button. You’ll then see the Pricing screen where you have options to adjust bids and your monthly spend settings. On this screen, click the Advanced bidding options link shown below.

To set individual keyword bids for content, click both check boxes next to Bid separately for Content Ads and Change the base bid for individual keywords. Options for bidding separately for Content Ads and changing your base bids will then appear. You will also see the option to enter a maximum base bid and apply it to either search or content (pictured above the Performance and spend to date table). Your screen will update and show a table that allows you to set bids for each of your keywords and match types. To set bids specifically for content distribution, enter your base bid (CPC) for the keyword’s content match type. In the example below, we’ve set the base bid for “tax filing” as 0.05 for content.

If you don’t need to set individual bids for each keyword, but you do want a separate base bid for your content match type keywords, you can do this easily. First, enter your maximum base bid (CPC) in the text box above the Performance and spend to date table. Then, click the Apply to content button. This will update all of your content match type keywords to the bid value you entered.

Please note, if you haven’t yet been migrated to our beta site, these options will not be available. We hope this helps demonstrate how to control content bidding. If you have any other questions, feel free to post a comment or email us.

Jeanie
Microsoft adCenter Community Team

Upgrading to Content Ads on January 25, 2007

Fri, 19 Jan 2007 19:01:14 GMT

This week, some of our U.S. advertisers received an e-mail notification that their accounts will be migrated to our Beta site on Thursday, January 25, 2007, as part of the adCenter Content Ads pilot program. The e-mail notification also explained that the campaigns within migrated accounts will automatically be expanded to include distribution on content pages within the Microsoft network.

We know that some of you have questions about the migration to the adCenter Beta site and the upgrade to Content Ads. We’re here to answer those questions.

Why was my account selected for migration?
We selected advertisers based on how well their ads match the inventory we currently have available in the pilot. Additionally, we wanted to include a sampling of advertisers to get more feedback on the adCenter Beta site as we plan to roll it out to all customers shortly. The Beta site features improvements to campaign management, navigation, and reporting.

How does Microsoft adCenter Content Ads work?
Microsoft adCenter analyzes the content of a webpage to find the most appropriate keywords and then displays the most relevant keyword-targeted ads on the webpage. For example, if a user looks at a page about kayaking in the Pacific Northwest, adCenter could show advertisements for kayaking trips or supplies from the advertiser’s existing ads. Similar to search ads, you still only pay when a customer clicks your ad. You can learn more in our Frequently Asked Questions.

What if I don’t want to participate in the Content Ads pilot program?

While all selected accounts will be migrated to the Beta site, advertisers will be able to control where their ads are displayed. We hope that you’ll choose to run your ads on both our search pages and content pages. However, we understand that some advertisers may not want their ads to display on content pages, and we want you to know that you will always have the ability to turn off content distribution. Our next post on Monday will provide helpful tips for how to make changes to distribution settings and set separate bids for your keywords to display on content pages.

Jeanie
Microsoft adCenter Community Team

Ramping up for Microsoft adCenter Content Ads

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 20:24:22 GMT

We wanted to let you know that we are in the process of expanding our Content Ads pilot for advertisers. As part of this expansion, U.S. advertisers may soon receive an e-mail notification indicating that they have been selected to migrate to our new Content Ads pilot program.

Why is this happening?
As we mentioned in our previous post “Open invitation to register for U.S. Content Ads” we are now distributing Content Ads on select MSN channels, including Health, Technology, Travel, and Money. We have reached an important milestone in our pilot and are now inviting advertisers to try Content Ads. You may receive an opt-in notification if you have either expressed interest in trying Content Ads via our online registration form or if your ads match the categories of content pages we have available.

If you've been selected, you'll receive an e-mail notification with details regarding when your ad groups will be activated for Content Ads and when they could start to display on relevant pages. You’ll have the ability to modify your campaigns, including the opportunity to place separate keyword bids for Content Ads. Activation will also give you access to the new adCenter pilot site.

This is a great opportunity for your ads to benefit from a limited increase in traffic and reach the high-quality MSN inventory. It will also give you a sneak preview of our new adCenter user interface before it's implemented for all advertisers.

If you receive the notification and you're not quite ready to give Content Ads a try, don't worry! You can opt out by following the directions included in the e-mail by the designated deadline. We hope you'll give it a try though, as the new Content Ads offering gives you the same level of flexibility that you have with search ads. Once you have been migrated to the adCenter pilot site, you can optimize for content distribution by changing your individual keyword bids for content clicks or creating content-only ads. To learn more about adjusting Content Ads, visit our Frequently Asked Questions.

If you are already using Content Ads, let us know what you think. Your feedback is important to helping shape the features and functions of Content Ads before the program is available to all advertisers.

Jeanie
Microsoft adCenter Community Team