Microsoft News Tracker

There may be grumbling about the speed at which Microsoft is rolling out its Internet advertising program, but some interesting nuts-and-bolts details of the “advanced audience intelligence and targeting capabilities” are coming from the beta participants:

Under MSN’s process, for example, once a registered user logs in, the engine “knows” what profile the user fits based on information the user supplied at registration, and it can see what registered users fitting any given profile are searching for. That knowledge allows a search marketing advertiser to boost its bid so as to appear in a higher keyword position in search results delivered to users who fall within a desired demographic target. It’s less important for the marketer to appear at the top of search results delivered to those who fall outside the desired target, so the marketer can limit the premium it pays for top position to a smaller, defined group, while setting a lower CPC bid so as to show search results in a lower position to the rest of the search audience, Leitch explains.

The technology automatically segments the premium CPC from the maximum bid set for the rest of the search audience among registered MSN users for which it has demographic profiles. It also can segment out bidding based on the geographic location of the searcher on MSN who is also a registered and logged-in MSN user, Leitch notes; for example, a retailer with an East Coast warehouse, able to ensure Christmas delivery later in the season for local customers, might choose to extend premium bidding on a holiday promotion later in the season for searchers logging in from eastern states than for those from western states.

More by following the link where the information comes from search engine marketing firm MoreVisibility.com, which is in the adCenter beta along with some clients.