Microsoft Advertising PubCenter....any opinions on this?

[NorLine]

Microsoft Advertising PubCenter....any opinions on this?

We've been looking at this for a couple of weeks now, and to be honest, we are a bit confused with what they are trying to do here...

Is the program for Web Publishers dead and done with?

Is this only an option for those wanting to promote Windows apps? What is going on with Microsoft Advertising for US Web Publishers??

Anybody have any experience with this?

[Mikl]

Hi NorLine,

Essentially, Microsoft Advertising PubCenter is a system where website operators ("publishers") can publish ads on their sites. The ads are served by Microsoft, which collects payment from the advertisers, and passes a share of that payment to the publisher. In that sense, it is very similar to Google AdSense (and a hundred similar programmes).

One specific feature of PubCenter is that it is also available for developers of Windows phone apps (which presumably also covers all Windows 8 apps). But it's not - as you suggest - "an option for those wanting to promote Windows apps". It's for using apps to promote other products and services, which is not the same thing.

One thing I am not sure about is that Microsoft says the programme is "focused on large publishers". I'm not sure if that means it is only available for large publishers.

Does that answer your questions?

Mike

[NorLine]

Hi NorLine,

Essentially, Microsoft Advertising PubCenter is a system where website operators ("publishers") can publish ads on their sites. The ads are served by Microsoft, which collects payment from the advertisers, and passes a share of that payment to the publisher. In that sense, it is very similar to Google AdSense (and a hundred similar programmes).

One specific feature of PubCenter is that it is also available for developers of Windows phone apps (which presumably also covers all Windows 8 apps). But it's not - as you suggest - "an option for those wanting to promote Windows apps". It's for using apps to promote other products and services, which is not the same thing.

One thing I am not sure about is that Microsoft says the programme is "focused on large publishers". I'm not sure if that means it is only available for large publishers.

Does that answer your questions?

Mike

Hi Mikl,

Thanks for your comments. Yes, you did mention some good points. I've done some research in the meantime, and it's somewhat clear to me from other web publishers, that this is not an option for most websites. There is hardly any information from Microsoft itself, and their "user" forum is all but deserted....that combo of facts basically speak for themselves. Unless we've missed something, we don't see any point for small-medium websites to go in this direction.

One of the main things we want to "sense" if you will, was how many people have actually used AND benefited from this service. So far, 0 replies, 0 comments about actual experiences with this service. Let's see what happens in the next few days, but this says a lot so far.

Thanks!

[Mikl]

I suspect that it's the "large publishers" clause that puts people off. I also agree with you about the general lack of details.

Personally, if I wanted to earn revenue by showing adverts on my sites, I would go with Google AdSense. It has its faults, but it is by far the most successful and best established system of its kind.

Mike