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Microsoft Unveils Online Advertising Service

Posted by Zonk on Thu May 04, 2006 11:28 AM
from the yahoo-and-google-gulp dept.
Microsoft The Internet The Almighty Buck Yahoo!
jwb4273 writes "Microsoft has released another weapon in its battle against Google. Steve Ballmer has announced today that Microsoft's web properties (MSN, Live, etc.) will no longer use Yahoo!'s advertising services, and will instead use Microsoft's new advertising platform 'adCenter'. For wanting to go in together with Yahoo, this seems like the wrong start for a good relationship."

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[+] Microsoft/Yahoo Merger to Take on Google? 183 comments
Mz6 writes "One faction within Microsoft is promoting a bold strategy in the company's battle with Google: Join forces with Yahoo. That would be a major departure for Microsoft, the software maker that is legendary for toiling on its own until it captures a new market. However, people familiar with the situation say that Microsoft has considered the idea of acquiring a stake in Yahoo, and that the two companies have discussed possible options over the course of the past year. Currently, talks of an equity stake in Yahoo don't appear to be active, given that Microsoft is focusing on a reorganization that it hopes will re-energize its effort to compete with Google. Two wild cards remain: Steve Ballmer, who has historically shunned large acquisitions, and Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, whose support would be key to bringing the necessary Yahoo shareholders on board for a deal. Mr. Yang and others in Yahoo would be hard-pressed to sell to Microsoft, people close to the company say. However, people familiar with Microsoft say its top management remains open to a deal with Yahoo as pressure grows to perform better against Google. The increasing pressure on Microsoft -- not just from Google, but also from its own shareholders, as well as from advertisers that want an alternative to Google -- could help to justify the acquisition or some kind of business collaboration, these people say."
[+] Microsoft Trumps Google, Yahoo! R&D Budgets 201 comments
Rob writes to mention a Computer Business Review Online article on Microsoft's commitment to out-spend Google and Yahoo! on innovation in the coming year. From the article: "Microsoft Corp will spend over $1bn on R&D just in its MSN unit, for the fiscal year starting in July, chief executive Steve Ballmer told an audience of would-be advertising customers. The money, part of the surprise spending package that recently gave Microsoft's share price its biggest single-day drop in five years, comes as the company struggles to catch up to Yahoo! Inc and Google Inc in the search and online advertising market."
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  • You Can Keep Your adCenter (Score:5, Interesting)

    by eldavojohn (898314) * <my/.username@@@gmail.com> on Thursday May 04 2006, @11:30AM (#15263296) Homepage Journal
    Search isn't the only place where adCenter will place advertising. In the future, Microsoft said, it expects to launch ads in e-mail, the Spaces blogging program, on mobile applications, in Office and on the Xbox.com Web site.
    That's wonderful! If there's one thing I enjoy about watching television, it's when my favorite program cuts to commercials and there's a guy with an annoying voice repeating everything. Damn, I just get elated at the prospect of someone soliciting products & services to me non-stop.

    Yeah, I also like it when I'm trying to read an article and a 20mb flash application kicks up on top of what I'm trying to read telling me about Toyota's Western Washington specials. Like TFA's advertisements. That sure is awesome.

    I love turning on the radio because I'm not looking for music, I'm looking for annoying talk about some product I'm missing out on. There's nothing like nodding your head to a good advertisement of a Fat Bastard impersonator trying to get you to come to Bub's Bar & Grill.

    And now you want to make my mobile device throw random messages at me. Hey, maybe you can interrupt my personal telephone calls with advertisements from an annoying sounding person! That would be great.

    And advertising in my productivity applications! And my games! *eye twitches* That's just ... great , it really is.

    But why stop there? What boundaries does my personal life have yet that you have failed to knock down adn ignore? What about the novels I read? Can they have advertisements that cover up the words until I read them? Or maybe you could make software that injects product placement into scripts and storylines?

    In fact, I love advertisements so much, you can tattoo me and inject electrodes into my head so all I do is think about Microsoft and how badly I want the XBox 360. Yes, I would finally be able to die happy!

    If you hadn't noticed, I was being sarcastic.

    • Re:You Can Keep Your adCenter (Score:4, Funny)

      by Internet Ronin (919897) <internet@ronin.gmail@com> on Thursday May 04 2006, @11:41AM (#15263387)
      I'm just waiting for the day when I'm in the middle of sex and my condom reminds me that a wide variety of complementary lubes, toys, emergency contraceptives, massage oils, sheets, mattresses, and porn are available.

      This is of course assuming I can get laid...
      [ Parent ]
      • I'm just waiting for the day when I'm in the middle of sex and my condom reminds me that a wide variety of complementary lubes, toys, emergency contraceptives, massage oils, sheets, mattresses, and porn are available.

        If that happens, put a muffle on it.
    • I have no problem with unobtrusive ads in searches or hotmail and what not. Howerver, I *DO* have a problem w/ them in Office which I may have shelled money out for. Or any mobile application I may have paid for. Ads are to generate money so you *don't*
          • there's a point at which some of us just want to take the nearest marketer and plunge something sharp and pointy into their head.

            Please aim for the chest.
            Or do you really expect to hit anything worthwhile when plunging into the head?

    • Re:You Can Keep Your adCenter (Score:4, Insightful)

      by dougman (908) on Thursday May 04 2006, @12:01PM (#15263577)
      Not to nitpick, but TFA doesn't say anything about adCenter on your games. It says "xbox.com", not xbox.

      TFA doesn't give much detail either, so I'll wait to see if it really shows up in Office. I'd be VERY surprised to see that happen. What I can imagine is a stripped down freebie version that has ads to get eyeballs and to keep folks from switching to OpenOffice.
      [ Parent ]
      • Can you imagine what the ads would be like in Office? As soon as you type in, say, "computer" into your Word document, Clippy [wikipedia.org] pops up, does a little jigg, and says:

        It looks like you're interested in buying a computer!

        Would you like help?

    • OK, obtrusive ads are one thing, but you do realize that content doesn't pay for itself, and most people aren't willing to do things for free (or pay out-of-pocket) for bandwidth. If you want things to be adless, be prepared to pay for it. I for one am n
    • In fact, I love advertisements so much, you can tattoo me and inject electrodes into my head so all I do is think about Microsoft and how badly I want the XBox 360. Yes, I would finally be able to die happy!

      Yeah, but how do you *really* feel?

      Years ago I st

    • ...there's a guy with an annoying voice repeating everything.

      Wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man!
      Wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man!
      Wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man!
      Wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man!

  • Microsoft & Yahoo (Score:2, Interesting)

    by XxtraLarGe (551297)
    For wanting to go in together with Yahoo, this seems like the wrong start for a good relationship."

    I'm sure this is meant as a bargaining chip. "See what you have to lose if you don't go with us, Yahoo?"

  • Non-IE Customers Not Wanted (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Bill Dimm (463823) on Thursday May 04 2006, @11:37AM (#15263358) Homepage
    If I actually wanted to run an ad with this service, I would go to adcenter.msn.com [msn.com], click the "Sign up today" link and get "Microsoft adCenter does not currently support the web browser you are using. Please sign in using Internet Explorer 6+." If I then click the "More about system requirements" link nothing happens. I guess I'll just keep my money.

  • Microsoft is like the Karl Rove of tech... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by TheNoxx (412624) on Thursday May 04 2006, @11:38AM (#15263368) Homepage Journal
    The only way Microsoft has to promote their inferior product has been FUD campaigns and tons of self-promotion through marketing. They don't want any allies that could be potential rivals, and that includes Yahoo. Unless they intend to buy Yahoo (like they did with Bungie and Rare), they probably don't want to support a partner in a field they could dominate themselves for more profits. The only "allies" I've seen them interested in have been PC makers, and those are more like forced partnerships than friendly cooperations.

    Go ahead, mod me down. You know I speak the truth.

    • For wanting to go in together with Yahoo, this seems like the wrong start for a good relationship.

      1. Offer to "partner" with successful company.
      2. Cut legs out from under "partner". Absorb all of "partner's" customers.
      3. ???
      4. Profit. Maybe - or

  • Microsoft's size is it's biggest asset... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Weaselmancer (533834) on Thursday May 04 2006, @11:39AM (#15263374)

    ...and it's biggest liability.

    They're so damned huge that the left hand really honestly doesn't know what the right one is doing. At least it sure seems that way, doesn't it?

  • Still no competitor to AdSense (Score:4, Informative)

    by DaHat (247651) on Thursday May 04 2006, @11:39AM (#15263376) Homepage
    While anyone with a website or blog can sign up for AdSense and add it to their page... the same cannot yet be said for adCenter as for now it is only for Microsoft (and close partner) web properties.

  • M$ says "me too" (Score:2, Insightful)

    by jet_silver (27654)
    If there is ever a sign that a company is losing its relevance, it's when it stops innovating and starts copying its successful rivals. All this story says is that M$ has lots of places to put ads, and they're going to do it. What better way to please cu

  • Ads in Office? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    What is this about them wanting to put ads into Office? Unless they are planning on giving out a free version that has ads, I highly doubt people are going to like that one bit. Paying $400 for a program that displays ads is BS. I don't any company or pers
    • It used to be that you pay $5 to go see a movie and only "ads" you saw were in the form of movie trailers and messages to visit the concession stand.

      These days, you pay $12 to sit through 30 minutes of real "commercials" of everything from soda to local ca

  • Mixed Feelings (Score:2, Interesting)

    by MOtisBeard (693145)
    Wow, I have such incredibly mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I have loathed Microsoft and Bill Gates ever since that angry letter he wrote calling people thieves for sharing copies of his BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800. On the other han

  • In OFFICE? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by BrianH (13460) on Thursday May 04 2006, @11:45AM (#15263428)
    Oh, I can just imagine how well that's going to go over in our large site. How does MS expect to sell this to the corporate market? "Yes, MS Office is the most popular productivity suite in the world! And as an added bonus, we'll kill YOUR companies productivity by distracting all of your employees with tempting ads! Think about the boon to the economy! Instead of all those employees wasting time working for YOU, they can be promoting commerce and boosting the economy by spending their working hours shopping online!"

    Even making it easy to disable wouldn't assuage many CTO's, because there is still a productivity loss as the IT guys disable the ads. It may be simple for one, but when you have thousands of installations, sometimes spread out over multiple locations, it's going to cost real money to fix.

    The old adage "Cutting off your nose to spite your face" comes to mind here. They're going to anger the majority of their customers, just to make it look like they're "competing" with Google. MS really has fallen...they're transforming themselves from the largest software company in the world into freaking Doubleclick.

  • Information (Score:4, Interesting)

    by kratei (924454) on Thursday May 04 2006, @11:47AM (#15263440)
    "AdCenter will give advertisers sophisticated information about consumers, including their location, age, gender and sometimes, their level of wealth. That's more than what Google and Yahoo! offer, said Joe Doran, senior director for monetization in Microsoft's MSN ad-planning group."

    I'm curious which of their many sources they plan to use to get this info. Will they just borrow as much personal data as they can from your windows box and plug it into their ad service? Will they "patch" windows the way other spyware companies do? Do they already have all this info? I suppose I simply don't the idea of another more invasive ad program out there, but then I suppose it won't effect me immediatly, since I never use IE.

    Oh, BTW, how would you like your job title to be "senior director for monetization." Is "monetization" even a word?

  • They're doing this to drive down the stock price of Yahoo, so it will be easier to purchase. It's just another clever tactic when you want to exercise your monopoly power.
  • ... the interests of the advert part of MS and the OS part of MS will clash. Wonder which will win?

  • privacy invasive (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Bert690 (540293) on Thursday May 04 2006, @11:54AM (#15263497)
    Funny how they tout their privacy-invasive demographic targeting stuff as a distinguishing feature of their system compared to Google. It's one thing for MS to know a lot about you, but by affecting the display of ads based on your personal information, some of it is being leaked to advertisers each time you click. No thanks, MS.

  • MSFT & YHOO - misinterpretation (Score:3, Interesting)

    by DamienMcKenna (181101) <[moc.annek-cm] [ta] [neimad]> on Thursday May 04 2006, @12:03PM (#15263597)
    Microsoft is a tough bedmate. They'll pay Yahoo a few million as part of the courting process, get a good look at the goods, scr3w them a few times, then cut and run. Yahoo will cry ("you said you loved me"), probably sue, and loose a vast quantity of market share in the process; meanwhile Microsoft will have spent a few million crippling yet another competitor and gain major amounts of insight and technologies. In the end MSFT's focus is turning this into a two-horse race - them and Google, Yahoo is an innocent victim on MSFT's butcher's table.

    Damien

  • Return to the 90's (Score:3, Interesting)

    by diegocgteleline.es (653730) on Thursday May 04 2006, @12:09PM (#15263650)
    Ads seem to work for TV but duh, weren't ads who were financiating all those .com bubbles before they bankrupted?

  • Floppingwienervision?? (Score:5, Funny)

    by mobby_6kl (668092) on Thursday May 04 2006, @12:12PM (#15263685)
    Ok, how the fuck can an article get tagged "floppingwienervision"?
    I can't imagine more than 2-3 people out of the whole /. horde coming up with this description, and I'm sure it takes more than that to get an article tagged.

  • The whole HOSTS file thing... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by HTL2001 (836298) on Thursday May 04 2006, @12:14PM (#15263704)
    Well I guess they do plan ahead... seeing as how you cannot block anything from microsoft in the hosts file as its hardcoded

  • First step in the Ultimate Plan (Score:5, Funny)

    by mollusk (195851) on Thursday May 04 2006, @12:22PM (#15263788) Homepage
    For years, people have wondered where Microsoft was going. A seemingly endless supply of ill-conceived and contradictory decisions, failed business projects, and general mismanagement gave the impression that there was no clear corporate vision. With the satuaration of the OS and Office software market, no one knew where MS would turn next to sustain the drug of growth.

    No one except me, that is. Some said MS would go into being a conten provider. You fools. Porn sites are content providers, MS sells no porn. Others thought that Bill and Company were looking to get into the embedded device market. WTF were they smoking? Embedded devices have no need for brand names. Who cares what your VCR runs other than stinkfingered cheeto monkeys watching tapes of Enterprise frame by frame to see the T'Pol nipple shot?

    No, the future is clear. MS must take their marketing talent and money to a new market. One that is unaccustomed to the trench fighting of the Tech sector. A ripe plum. Yes, I am talking about the snack cake market.

    With the considerable leverage and investment capability, MS has the chance to swoop into the prepackaged pastry industry like Hitler into Poland. Sarah Lee is ripe for a takeover with the failure of their X-99 project of dehydrated cupcakes. With such a strong base, competitor after competitor could be gobbled up. In a few short years, there would be only one source for Coffee cakes, Twinkies, HoHo, DingDongs, Chocodiles, zingers, and snowballs.

    Think I'm crazy? Get off the smack. The signs are there. The Xbox is nothing more than an activity inhibitor. Less active children eat more cupcakes. The BSOD was a conditioning system. Once MS introduces the blue frosting on their signautre snack bites, the dollars will flow.

    This latest project is just a cover. The only ads running on the system in 10 years will be for BillBills and BalmerDogs. I just don't understand why people don't see it. Sheep.

  • And Clippy returns! (Score:5, Funny)

    by szrachen (913408) on Thursday May 04 2006, @12:30PM (#15263858)

    I see you're writing a suicide note, take a look at these great offers!

    • BEST Anti-Depressants for CHEEP!
    • Make your p3n15 18 inches longer!
    • Joe's Firearms
    • Johnny's Ropes, Inc.
    • ABC Casket Company

  • Finally (Score:2)

    by Sloppy (14984)
    It's about time Microsoft finally did something for all the users who keep asking for more ads.
  • Microsoft switched from using Yahoo for something to doing it themselves. How does this affect Google? Microsoft wasn't their customer before, and isn't now. The net effect appears to be 0.

    That said, Microsoft's new advertising program will certainly effec
  • Their add service only runs if you are using Internet Exploder, er Explorer.

  • Just lost me (Score:3, Informative)

    by pen (7191) * <slashdot3@digdug.cx> on Thursday May 04 2006, @02:07PM (#15264751)
    Microsoft just lost me as a customer in yet another market: Microsoft adCenter does not currently support the web browser you are using. Please sign in using Internet Explorer 6+.
    • They will. Imagine the future:

      Pornography and online gaming at hundreds of times the speed of your normal advertising service provider. It's so easy to use, and the surgery to implant it in the base of your skull is so painless, that Microsoft is sure to
      • There's a difference between allowing people to do things with your software you'd rather them not (like looking up porn / google-smut), and actively appearing like you are endorsing such things (such as providing ad revenue for a porn site). One is passi
    • Hey I thought you mac user creative artist types knew a thing or two about colors. Look at most grays and they have color in them. Compare a gray with magenta to a gray with cyan -- big difference. But maybe you missed that when you instantly became an "ar
    • From the article: "AdCenter will give advertisers sophisticated information about consumers, including their location, age, gender and sometimes, their level of wealth."

      Could MS be misusing all of that registration data they have been collecting? Or have

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