The Pros And Cons Of Microsoft Adsense

“Microsoft Adsense” is Microsoft’s attempt to compete with Google’s massive advertising network. With Microsoft Adsense, you can use pay per click on Live Search which is the search network that powers MSN and other search engines.

With Microsoft Adsense, you can target the customers you most want to reach. Unlike Adwords, Microsoft’s program allows you to target people based on demographics such as their age and gender. You can geo-target as well (this is also a feature with Adwords.)

There are in depth reporting and analysis features for the advertising. In addition to the kinds of reports you get with Adwords, you also get to see the results of your click throughs based on demographics. You can slice up the data in many ways to be able to analyze the effectiveness of your pay per click campaigns.

Ads and keywords must be pre-approved by the Microsoft Ad Center. They promise to do this quickly. Ads and keywords are approved independently of each other. Adwords allows your ads to go live instantly.

The kinds of things that are disapproved by Microsoft Adsense are keywords and ads that relate to adult oriented themes, alcohol and tobacco, illegal substances and activities, political content, religious content, and more. Deceptive products and services will also not be approved. Ads that lead to pages that people don’t really like to visit (like privacy policy pages) will also be disapproved.

There are also some grammar rules to follow. For instance, you can’t use exclamation marks in ad titles. You can’t repeat words, capitalize entire words, or use letters or numbers in ways not normally used. There is an emphasis on using correct grammar.

There is a mechanism to appeal disapproved ads and keywords through the support center. It can take up to 10 days to get a response though. If the appeal is denied, the decision is final.

Microsoft Adsense ads appear on the MSN search page as well as Microsoft owned websites such as MSN Tech and MSN Money. They may appear on partner websites as well such as Fox Sports and the Wall Street Journal. You can turn off the search for Microsoft owned websites and partner websites if you choose.

One of the advantages of the content network Microsoft Adsense uses over the partner network for Google Adwords is that Google allows sites of dubious quality to display their ads. Microsoft’s program is targeted at websites whose names you would recognize right out of the gate.

You can set separate bids for each keyword. You can also differentiate your bids for ads in the search page vs. ads on the content pages.

You can get started by activating an account for just $5. You will then pay on a per click basis for each time a viewer chooses to click through your ad to your page. Every time your billing reaches $50, your credit card will be charged. If you do not bill $50 in one month, your card will be charged on a monthly basis. Over time, as you build up credit, the network will raise your credit limit to up to $3000 before you are billed again.

And, that’s how to get started with Microsoft Adsense.