By Erika Morphy E-Commerce Times Part of the ECT News Network
01/16/06 2:13 PM PT
Microsoft's investment in adLab will raise the bar in click-advertising technology by providing advertisers with richer data about users -- such as the gender or likely age of the Internet consumer -- according to Greg Jarboe, a principal with search-engine optimization firm SEO-PR.
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is establishing a research center called adLab that will develop new ways to provide even more detailed demographic data about consumers, as well as new marketing technologies, to online advertisers.
AdLab, which is a joint effort of MSN's adCenter and Microsoft Research, is located at a state-of-the-art lab in Beijing staffed by more than 50 researchers. It is part of Microsoft's adCenter initiative, launched last year to target the search market.
Microsoft gave the audience at adCenter Demo Fest at the Microsoft campus a preview of some of the technologies it expects to further develop, including bar-code readers, social network mining and video hyperlink ads.
The latter, for instance, allows consumers to zoom onto a particular item featured on the screen and then click through a detailed product description and other information, such as where it can be purchased.
Search Wars
Microsoft's investment in adLab will raise the bar in click-advertising technology by providing advertisers with richer data about users -- such as the gender or likely age of the Internet consumer -- according to Greg Jarboe, a principal with search-engine optimization firm SEO-PR.
Endeavors in such leading-edge technologies are nascent at best, "and nobody has a lot of experience in this area, so it is too early to get feedback as to how it is working," he told the E-Commerce Times.
Microsoft is likely to push the envelope, despite the lack of a quantifiable business case for some of these applications.
"Remember, they are entering the market after Overture, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Yahoo," Jarboe pointed out. "When you are the third guy in any market (Google has acquired Overture), you need to differentiate yourself."
New York Splash Ahead?
Google and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) will have to respond to whatever Microsoft does -- and sooner, rather than later, Jarboe continued.
"I wouldn't be surprised if we saw more developments and announcements along these lines on February 28th, which is the day that Search Engine Strategies opens in New York," he suggested, noting that there could be no better place to unveil new marketing technologies than Madison Avenue.
Microsoft has hardly kept its plans to step up competition in the search-advertising area a secret.
"The industry has been looking forward to this arrival for a year now," Jarboe said. "With the kind of money that is being spent on paid advertising -- US$5.5 billion in North America -- it is a smart move."
Microsoft Eyes Summer Launch of MSN AdCenter January 13, 2006
"Microsoft can be a force because of its reach, its history of innovation and its deep pockets," Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li told the E-Commerce Times. "The entry of MSN provides much needed competition -- it seemed like Google and Yahoo were constantly innovating on the user search experience while search advertising was standing still."
Search Engine Ads Garner $5.75 Billion in 2005 January 10, 2006
"The whole notion of branding in search marketing is relatively new," Chris Sherman, associate editor of Searchenginewatch.com, said. When people first began search marketing, he explained, they were looking only for "hits." That evolved into people selling products.
In Search Advertising Coup, Google Buys Stake in AOL December 21, 2005
"I think losing AOL wasn't so much a financial issue as it was one of ego -- there was no way Google was going to let Microsoft beat it at anything as high profile as a major partnership," said Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li.
Alexa Offers Tools for Building Vertical Search December 14, 2005
"Alexa and Amazon are turning the index inside out, and offering it as a Web service that anyone can mashup to their hearts content," Search expert and Google book author John Battelle said. "Entrepreneurs can use Alexa's crawl, Alexa's processors, Alexa's server farm -- the whole nine yards."
Cell Phones Emerge as New Advertising Medium November 16, 2005
At least initially, only a few consumers are embracing the idea of cell phone advertising: an In-Stat survey found that four out of every five users opposed the idea. The group supporting cell phone advertising seemed open to letting advertisers subsidize the cost of premium services, such as directory assistance, ringtones and messaging.
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