Microsoft Delivers New Tools and Training for Advertisers, Search Marketers and Webmasters

Microsoft Corp. today unveiled two tools and an accreditation program designed to help customers make the most of their experience with Microsoft adCenter and Live Search. Microsoft adExcellence, opening to all U.S. adCenter users today, is an official training and accreditation program for adCenter. The Microsoft adCenter Add-in for Excel 2007 and the Webmaster Center are new tools designed to help advertisers improve the quality of their search advertising campaigns and help optimize Web sites for Live Search, respectively.

“The adExcellence program, adCenter Add-in and Webmaster Center are three great examples of Microsoft delivering on its commitment to provide customers with the tools, transparency and programs they need to maximize their success with our products and services,” said Aaron Easterly, general manager, Advertiser and Publisher Solutions at Microsoft. “We believe that providing unfettered access to data and best-in-class training is simply the best way to do business and to help ensure the success of the advertisers and marketers that choose to do business with Microsoft.”

Microsoft adExcellence

The Microsoft adExcellence program provides agencies and advertisers with the opportunity to become certified adCenter experts. The program offers more than 20 free training modules and a fee-based examination, providing users with the ability to demonstrate to their customers and prospects that they are fully trained and proficient in using adCenter. Accredited members will be listed in the adExcellence Membership Directory and will receive an adExcellence logo for use on their Web sites and marketing collateral. More information about the program can be found at http://www.adexcellence.com.

Microsoft adCenter Add-in for Excel 2007

Microsoft adCenter Add-in for Excel 2007 is a fully integrated Microsoft Office Excel-based tool that enables adCenter customers to easily research keywords to help them reach and capture the right audience with their paid search advertising campaigns. Users of the adCenter Add-in can rapidly build keyword lists and plan keyword strategy based on a variety of attributes including relevance, historical cost information and projected volume, and manipulate the data in the easy-to-use Excel format. The tool will help advertisers quickly understand keyword popularity and trends and gain valuable insight about demographic and localization information of actual queries.

“The adCenter Add-in for Excel raises the bar for search- and data-driven marketing tools. The ease of use with Excel and vast amount of keyword data are all extremely valuable for the online marketer,” said Jeffrey Pruitt, executive vice president of Corporate Partnerships at iCrossing. “This product helps unlock the true power of search data, providing access to more data than any other engine, enabling increased understanding of consumer behavior and intent. Within minutes of using this tool, a savvy marketer will be able to discover new information to help drive more successful, consumer-driven campaign strategies.”

Data accessible via the adCenter Add-in comes from Microsoft’s Keyword Services Platform (KSP), a revolutionary set of Web service application programming interfaces related to keyword technologies, including keyword recommendation, forecasting, categorization and monetization. The adCenter Add-in, which will be available Jan. 8, 2008, provides easy access to the tremendous amount of data available through the KSP and is the latest technology from Microsoft adCenter Labs to be fully integrated into adCenter following customer trial and feedback.

Webmaster Center

The Webmaster Center is a portal specifically designed for webmasters and search engine optimizers. It provides all the necessary resources to optimize a Web site for achieving the highest possible algorithmic or “organic” listing on Live Search. This includes information about how Live Search crawls and indexes site pages; site map creation and submission; statistics about Web sites currently indexed by Live Search; consolidated content submission guidelines; and new content and community resources. The beta version of the Webmaster Center can be accessed at http://webmaster.live.com.

The Microsoft adCenter and Live Search teams are attending Search Engine Strategies in Chicago and WebmasterWorld in Las Vegas this week to demonstrate and answer questions about adExcellence, the adCenter Add-in and Webmaster Center.

About Microsoft Advertiser & Publisher Solutions

Microsoft Advertiser & Publisher Solutions (APS) provides world-class advertising platforms and tools for advertisers, agencies and publishers. Its mission is to make buying and selling media simpler, smarter and more cost-effective across media and devices in the Microsoft network of properties and beyond. The APS portfolio includes Microsoft adCenter, Atlas, DRIVEpm, Massive and ScreenTonic. APS businesses span search, display and emerging media including mobile, gaming, video on demand and IPTV. More information can be found at http://advertising.microsoft.com.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

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