WebProNews

Tag: Microsoft Advertising

  • Microsoft Advertising Adds Target Impression Share Automated Bids

    Microsoft Advertising Adds Target Impression Share Automated Bids

    Microsoft has released its August product updates, including Target Impression Share automated bidding.

    Manually managing a search campaign can be a tedious process, especially when trying to stay at the top of the results. Microsoft’s August update aims to help address that with Target Impression Share automated bidding.

    “A new addition to our suite of automated bidding strategiesOpens in new window is the exciting new Target Impression Share strategy, now available in Microsoft Advertising online and Editor,” writes Kevin Salat, Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft Advertising. “With this strategy, you set your budget, where you want your ads to appear, and your Target Impression Share, and Microsoft Advertising automatically sets your bids.”

    Microsoft is a distant second to Google in search market share. Nonetheless, rolling out features that continue to make it easier for customers to use its services can only help it gain ground.

  • Microsoft Blocks 300,000 Advertising Accounts In 2020

    Microsoft Blocks 300,000 Advertising Accounts In 2020

    Microsoft Advertising has released its 2020 year-in-review report, giving a glimpse of the state of online advertising.

    The company blocked some 300,000 accounts from its advertising platform, a 30% increase from 2019. Microsoft also removed 1.6 billion bad ads, as well as 270,000 sites from its system.

    Given the year that was 2020, it’s not surprising what Microsoft’s five key areas of focus were: the pandemic, political advertising, third-party government services, tech support scams and advertiser safety.

    Microsoft emphasized its approach to advertising, one that uses a combination of artificial intelligence and manual reviewers.

    Advertising fraud is fast-moving, and we continue to see new patterns surface globally. We take an all-hands-on-deck approach to ensure we continue to deliver the highest quality content possible. We constantly update and refine our policies to ensure we meet evolving needs. Our fraud detection technology makes use of a wide variety of signals and uses the latest machine-learning algorithms to find fraud patterns which can otherwise be difficult to detect. We also have a geographically distributed team of experts working round the clock to help us conduct detailed investigations on any new patterns we’re seeing, by making use of smart and scalable tools. Detecting fraud before it has a chance to reach customers is one piece of our approach.

    We also address escalations and complaints from customers to quickly remove low-quality ads. In 2020, we received a total of ~50,000 complaints related to ads not being compliant per our advertising policies. We investigated each complaint and found ~ 65% of the reported ads to be in violation of Microsoft Advertising policies. Most of the complaints were related to trademark infringements. As we continue to roll out new products and make it easier for brands to engage with audiences, we made additional investments to protect and respond to advertisers’ concerns around trademark use and were able to reduce the trademark related complaints by ~ 25% year over year. We also received a few complaints related to unlicensed gambling sites, phishing, unauthorized government service provider websites, and other user safety concerns. We have a highly responsive operations team working 24/7 to promptly address concerns relating to our ads. In response to complaints, our operations team took down nearly 400,000 violating ads from our network.

    Microsoft’s 2020 report shows the challenges the advertising industry faces, as well as provides insights into how to manage those challenges.

  • Microsoft Advertising Enables VPAID Ads

    Microsoft Advertising Enables VPAID Ads

    Microsoft just introduced a new ad interface that enables real-time optimization using audience data. It’s called VPAID and it stands for Video Player Ad-Interface Definition.

    It’s the language between the actual video player and the ad itself. Essentially it enables an in-stream ad experience. One key component to VPAID is that it actually captures user interaction and provides real-time feedback.

    Here’s what VPAID aims to provide to publishers, advertisers, and vendors:

    * Increasing common video ad supply technology so that video publishers can readily accept video ad serving from agency ad servers and networks;

    * Providing common technology specifications for advertisers to develop against, thereby decreasing the cost of creative production and thus increasing business ROI;

    * Improving video ad supply liquidity, thus decreasing the cost of integration with each publisher.

    Here’s what Microsoft said about VPAID on their blog:

    “We’re excited about VPAID because it not only drives interactivity, it also helps with ad sequencing, and dynamic creative optimization (DCO). Ad sequencing reduces waste and enables creative storytelling by enabling brands to tell a progressive story without repeating themselves. And with DCO, video advertisers can provide more relevant offers and messages to consumers by leveraging audience data and real-time optimization.”

    “VPAID is another example of Microsoft Advertising collaborating with the industry to make it easier for brands to launch digital campaigns at scale. Advertisers can create one VPAID campaign and scale it quickly across multiple publishers. Microsoft Advertising has already certified seven partners to serve VPAID across our US display offerings, with international markets soon to follow. Our partners include MediaMind, PointRoll, Mixpo, Adotube, Innovid, Vindico, and Tremor.”

    To experience what a VPAID ad looks like follow this link. This particular ad features Nordstrom. This type of interactive real-time format is what marketeers and advertisers have been striving for. I don’t know that VPAID is in a refined stage, but it’s certainly a good start.

  • Microsoft Introduces adCenter Training Hub

    Early in April Microsoft added the adCenter Training Hub to their site because they wanted users to have an easy to understand yet comprehensive resource for learning how to advertise using Microsofts’s extensive array of tools. Yesterday they announced some refinements to the Training Hub and some of them could make getting started even easier.

    Microsoft hopes the hub will not only get you advertising and utilizing the tools faster than ever, but now also gives you the opportunity to become an accredited professional. Check out what they say on their blog:

    “Better your campaigns and drive more business by becoming a Microsoft Advertising Accredited Professional. You’ll raise your industry profile, increase ROI for you and your customers, and know how to grab the most bang for your buck with every campaign you manage.”

    You can do all the training for free and take a series of tests to eventually get qualify and be recognized as an accredited advertising professional. Listen to what else Microsoft had to say about the service:

    “The Microsoft adCenter Training Hub offers free training to help you improve your Microsoft adCenter knowledge and prepare for the accreditation exam. Updated and new content is clearly marked for you to view, related topics and trainings are called out for a richer training experience, and users who sign in enjoy features that conveniently track and bookmark their trainings for them.”

    “Take the Accredited Professional exam to demonstrate your knowledge once you’ve viewed the adCenter Training.”

    So if you’ve been putting off taking marketing and advertising into your own hands, delay no longer. Microsoft is reaching out to put the power in your hands. Check it out.

  • Microsoft Advertising Introduces Training Hub

    Today Microsoft Advertising launched the new training Hub for their adCenter. It supposed to be a user friendly training experience that allows you to work at your own pace and record your success. There are many benefits to the the service.

    Here’s what adCenter promises with the new training tools:

    The new Training Hub makes it easy to stay up-to-date with your adCenter training at your own pace.

    * An updated sign-in feature enables you to easily keep track of your training progress (see details below).

    * Updated and new content is clearly marked for you to view.

    * Related topics and trainings are called out, for a richer training experience.

    When you take advantage of the new sign-in option enjoy these added benefits:

    * We keep track of your in-progress training or training you’ve already viewed—saving you time.

    * Your spot is automatically bookmarked—so you can stop a training at any time and return later, right where you left off.

    * You’ll always know you’re signed in—you’ll see your personalized greeting.

    So if you’ve been struggling with adCenter or you are just getting started with advertising on Microsoft, you should take advantage of the training Hub. Web advertising just keeps getting easier and easier. Tools like this take the guess work out of designing an advertising campaign.