The Verdict!

The Verdict

I've had a good few weeks now to really get under the bonnet of Microsoft adCenter so thought it was about time I declared my allegiance (or otherwise)!

I should probably preface this "review" with a little bit of my background so you can make a judgment on whether or not I'm "qualified" to evaluate a PPC system. I guess the main point to get over is that I'm not new to the whole pay per click game having worked with Google AdWords over the past three or four years. I've been running high level, highly optimised AdWords campaigns with annual budgets ranging from £500 to £500,000. I define "Highly Optmised" as campaigns where thousands of keywords are split into narrow bands and where ad copy is constantly split tested with the end goal of getting as high a CTR as possible.

Like most people involved with PPC, I've been chomping at the bit to get my hands on Microsoft adCenter , primarily because it's based on a similar ranking model to AdWords. The reason why that model is so important is that if you take the time to fully understand the system and invest your time in producing high quality campaigns you can achieve much better performance than someone who simply adds keywords and copy. By investing in time I can get a better deal for my clients and that gives me an edge over my competitors.

I must admit that my enthusiasm for Microsoft adCenter was tempered slightly after reading the experiences of early adopters in the US. adCenter was launched in the US around March of this year and the forum feedback was luke warm to say the least.

Let's start with the interface! I'm going to put the technical glitches to one side for this review, this is a beta test after all. Having lived and breathed AdWords for so long I guess it was inevitable that I would be uncomfortable with a new interface in the first few days. The basic structure is the same for both systems but the primary structural differences are the with adCenter you enter global settings (such as audience location, day parting etc) at the order (ad group) level. When your creating a whole batch of ads, it can be a little cumbersome to enter the countries, times, days etc individually for each and every order. Having said that, I guess there are scenarios where this degree of flexibility would be an advantage.

Things I love about adCenter!

Setting up new accounts is a doddle!

As you go through the order creation process, the system "saves" each stage so you can opt out and return later

The keyword research tools are simply fab! There's even an option to allow you to search other sites for their keywords!

The demographic targeting is interesting and has huge potential

The dynamic text insertion options are very powerful when you are entering bulk keywords to test the potential.

Things Microsoft adCenter need to look at!

The billing!

The delay in reporting

Not being able to capitalise letters in the display URL

The turnaround time in processing

 

The "bad stuff" above can be sorted out and what we'll be left with is a system that ranks on quality, provides great research tools and delivers targeted traffic.

As to the the end results, I'm getting outstanding traffic with terrific click though rates (average of 20%) at a really low cost per click. Now I know these performance figures will change when adCenter goes fully public here in the UK but so far I'm impressed!

Yahoo needs to be seriously concerned! In my opinion adCenter stomps all over it in almost every sense. I think the flurry of activity and new functionality we've had from Google in recent months is partially a reaction to the new kid on the block.

For me Google AdWords is still the best system but Microsoft adCenter is giving it a real run for it's money!

Well done Microsoft, for once you seem to have delivered on your promises!