Briefs

ClickZ, Dec 14, 2007. Microsoft has played "third fiddle" to both Google and Yahoo in the search marketing game. A trio of announcements made today at Search Engine Strategies Chicago could foretell the beginnings of a change in the search world order. Microsoft today launched the adCenter Add-in for Excel and adExcellence accreditation program for search advertisers, and a new Webmaster Center for organic search optimizers.

As a late starter, Microsoft is facing the tasks of serving up relevant results and winning over users to its search engine, both necessary first steps before advertisers will consider it as a viable option.

While advertisers have complained of the lack of traffic, and even the lack of relevancy in search results, one place where Microsoft has emerged strongly is the area of advertiser tools.

The adCenter platform offers advanced targeting, including geotargeting, dayparting, and demographic targeting. Where it excels is in the research tools it offers in its adCenter Labs site, which launched last year. Tools in AdLabs give a glimpse into more data than advertisers can get elsewhere, including demographic prediction, commercial intent, and search funnel analysis. While these tools are currently in demo mode, they are expected to come out of the labs and into production eventually.

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