MSN Unveils Analytics Site For Search Marketers

Microsoft this morning will launch a Web site designed to give search advertisers additional tools for managing online campaigns.

The site, Adlab.microsoft.com, contains a host of analytics offerings that search advertisers can use to better strategize about keyword buys. For instance, one tool available at launch is "search funnels"--described on the site as a method to visualize and analyze search behaviors. "For example," the site states, "you can learn how many people search for BMW and then search for Mercedes Benz, Audi, and other automobiles."

Another tool, a "keyword categorization engine," classifies keywords into categories. For example, when a user types the word "camera" into the keyword categorization engine, a list of 15 categories appears in order of likely relevance; "lifestyle/hobbies" is at the top of the list, while "personal/health" is at the bottom.

Initially, the site will contain data for about 10,000 keywords; in the next several months, the AdLab will add information for more than 10 million keywords.

The AdLab site grew out of AdCenter Lab, unveiled in January--a joint effort between MSN's adCenter and Microsoft Research--that focuses on monetizing all of MSN's properties with ad sales.

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