MSN entered a hyper-competitive market when it launched its keyword ad product, adCenter, up against Yahoo! Search Marketing and Google AdWords. According to eMarketer.com, those two giants are likely
to control roughly 52 percent of the U.S. online ad market by yearend.
To distinguish itself, MSN's Keywords includes several features that Yahoo! and Google's offerings did not at launch
time.
"It's pretty compelling. Keywords ultimately offer the highest level of targeting, and the more specific your keywords can be, the better results you'll end up getting," says Matt
McMahon, executive vice president of corporate development for search engine marketing firm Fathom Online.
MSN's entrance into the paid search space is likely to drive Google and Yahoo!
to come up with newer, better features for both their search engine and keyword search services. "The competition is good for all parties involved, because they're going to spur each other to further
innovation," McMahon says.