Search Trends - Search Engine Marketing

Since rumors are all over the net about a new, self-serve MSN Search Ad Program (ala Overture, Adwords) that MSN is supposedly coming out with, I figure it's time I chime in about it. First off, I don't think it's going to happen any time soon. MSN has a contract with Overture to provide results for quite a while, so I don't think they're going to rush into this. I agree with Danny that these job postings and associated rumors are probably tied to some kind of modified version of the MSN Featured sites program they're already running.

I do think MSN will eventually create their own ppc program for search advertisers. MSN gets enough traffic to warrant their own ads and I'm sure it wouldn't take very long for bids (assuming an auction-style system) to reach levels similar to what Overture is at curently. And I don't blame MSN for wanting 100% of that revenue instead of whatever percentage they're getting from the deal with Overture.

As an advertiser, I like the idea of lower costs--at least initially. On the downside, it will mean more work for search marketers like us, but we're used to being overworked anyway. Overall I think it is good for the industry to spread out the marketshare of paid search, if nothing else, it will increase competition and drive innovation and hopefully improve customer service.

But, like I said, it will be a while before we see MSN offering their own broad-scale self-serve PPC program, so everybody just relax and get back to work.