Microsoft’s adCenter online advertising product includes behavioral targeting, a way to predict a customer’s age, gender, and other demographic information based on search queries and web browsing behavior. Yesterday Microsoft began incorporating behavioral targeting into adCenter, classifying users into 18 “audience segments.” Web users tracked by Microsoft are currently identified in one or more categories including mobile users, Internet power users, gamers, movie watchers, new/expecting moms, parents, and several categories encompassing travel searchers, and auto buyers and researchers. Once a user is classified, a site such as Live.com can suggest the best homepage gadgets for an expectant mother, gamer, or…
Category Archives: Windows Live
Leaving Microsoft
I am leaving Microsoft to start my own company. My last day at Microsoft is next Friday, August 18. It’s uncertain whether Microsoft will continue the feed platform work I started, but it’s some good stuff so I hope they do. RSS is the internet’s answer to the notification scenarios we’ve discussed and worked on for some time, and is filling a role as “the UNIX pipe of the internet” as people use it to connect data and systems in unanticipated ways. I joined Microsoft in April excited to change the world and build an Internet-scale feed platform to power…
Live.com has a new look, new config options
Live.com is sporting a new look tonight and I like it. The new header graphic draws attention to the search box and login, two services that help drive revenue. The Live.com homepage now has five different groups of preselected gadgets for users to fill up their homepage quickly. You can choose a basic set (news, weather, stocks), a news set, sports set, entertainment set, or all of the above. There is even a set of World Cup gadgets to help you track the latest soccer information on every visit. The soccer page includes videos tagged “worldcup” on YouTube, image…
DOJ clears IE7 search preferences
The Department of Justice cleared the search box feature in Internet Explorer 7, calling it respectful to “users’ and OEM’s default choices and is easily changed.” Windows Live Search is the current default search engine in Internet Explorer 7. Google was not happy with the browser defaults and complained to the antitrust division. (via Search Engine Watch) The article also mentions a resolved issue with the “first-boot” experience in Windows Vista. I just installed Vista beta 2, and my first screen was a “Welcome Center” with a few control panels and tweaks. The first boot experience in Internet Explorer 7…
Start pages do have revenue
A few blogs — Richard MacManus and others — have pointed to my post from Monday as “confirmation” that Live.com is the new homepage, and it must be true because a future employee of Microsoft said it. There could be a little more research from the publishers, but this is the wild west known as the blogosphere after all. My information about Live.com came from the Windows Live launch last November when Bill Gates mentioned it on stage. The news is not new, and the products discussed such as Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Vista haven’t even launched yet. As…
Windows Live Search updates
Microsoft introduced a new front-end for MSN Search data last night on Live.com, the new default homepage for Internet Explorer users. The new features improve the search experience for novice users with a more familiar interaction and customization. Scrollbars, no next button Microsoft found about 60% of their users request more than one page of results for services such as image search. They redesigned the experience, replacing the “next” and “previous” buttons common on other search sites with a with a draggable scroll up or scroll down slider that requests new result sets in the background. Choose your thumbnail…
MSN Search and Win
MSN Search is giving away prizes to searchers who pay close attention to ads in its search results. If you see a sponsored link with the words “MSN Search & Win” and click on the ad you may have won a new snowboard or maid service. A pretty clever way to get users to pay more attention to ads in search results. Users may change their search behavior to try and trigger a prize response for sponsors such as Bugaboo, Crate and Barrel, and Design within Reach, an average $2.50 CPC on Google AdWords….
MSN Spaces upgrade: more photos, more locations, and search
Microsoft just announced major upgrades to MSN Spaces. Highlights Search MSN Spaces blogs using MSN Search. The search index is still being populated and found no results for “kitten.” MSN Spaces member search Mobile versions of all MSN Spaces blogs, including search. Xbox gamer card integration. MSN Spaces is now available in Latin America, South Africa, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Singapore. Members can now upload up to 500 photos each month. The new photo uploading feature supports photo descriptions and comments. It’s now easier to make money with Kanoodle contextual ads or Amazon’s associates program. Over 100 themes to choose…
MSN Spaces adds World Cup stars
I just noticed MSN’s Road to the World Cup site in the UK. Soccer stars such as Michael Owen, Edgar Davids, and Gianluigi Buffon are now representing their national soccer teams with individual blogs. It looks like the players are just well-known front-men who contribute quotes to a team staff member each day. I wanted to have player or team blogs for the San Jose Clash and Los Angeles Galaxy six years ago but the tools were nowhere as advanced as they are now. Many more teams now have access to a variety of software for fan marketing. The new…
Windows Live Expo
Microsoft getting ready to launch new online classifieds system and social networking site called Windows Live Expo. Windows Live Expo allows users to post ads for free in a variety of categories including items for sale, personal ads, jobs, and events. Other teams within the Windows Live group have added functionality on top of the online service including placing listings with one click to a MSN Spaces blog or limiting the visibility of your listings to a social network defined by your Messenger friends list. A team within Microsoft has been working on the product since April 2005 and…