Microsoft Advertising Blog

The New MSN – Microsoft’s Bob Visse Explains the Why for Advertisers

posted Tue, Mar 16 2010

by Jenny Leahy - MSFT

3 comments

On March 9 the new US MSN homepage made its debut offering search, news, local, and social networking – all in one place.

I recently sat down with Bob Visse, General Manager of MSN Product Management, to capture his thoughts on the new, clean look of the MSN homepage, the new features and functionality, and what this means for advertisers.

I learned that Bob and his team have captured over 70,000 pieces of customer feedback since the preview of the new MSN homepage started in November. With this feedback top of mind the MSN homepage features 30 new updates – take a quick tour of the updates.

Some of the features and focus areas you’ll find on the new MSN homepage include:

Bing, Bing, and more Bing – The search bar is more prominent, you’ll now see a new trend watch on the homepage that highlights the trending on Twitter, and you’ll also see an increased prominence on popular searches.

The emergence of five key sections news, entertainment, lifestyle, sports, and money – These vertical sections are important for brand advertisers. These sections become one of the key places for advertisers to buy the audience and environments where they want to test brand campaigns – it is in these areas where brands can break through. The homepage also offers brand advertisers a new opportunity to capture the attention of their audience with an uncluttered homepage, big brands won’t compete with the content on the page as their ads pop.

A local content section that has a growing audience – In the few months that the preview of the homepage was live, the local section grew to 5 million unique users, who were accessing the local information that covers over 42,000 zip codes, and who were personalizing up to 3 cities to follow.

News and images in a tabbed format allows for multiple highlights with less clutter on the page.

Social networking is now featured too. Now you can check your favorite social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Windows Live, right from your MSN homepage.

Take a minute to watch Bob’s thoughts and let us know what you think.

Cheers

Jenny

Filed under: display advertising, online advertising, msn, digital marketing, online branding, msanews

Comments

Wed, Mar 17 2010 12:19AM

Tikicharm

I hate the new MSN - You made it alot worse than better in my oppinion... YUCK!!!!!
Fri, Mar 19 2010 02:28AM

Jenny Leahy

Thanks for the feedback. Do you have specifics that we can share back with the the team?
Sat, Mar 20 2010 07:05PM

Tigerlily

Hate the new MSN give us the option of having the old or the new so we can have the old page if we want. I will never have the new as my home page. I have already changed my homepage but would change back if I could have the option of having the old page back.