MSN AdCenter prototype to be launch in ....

Here a few paragraphs of the ClickZ post who seem more to me as a infomercial than a real article.

Following several days of media hype predicting MSN's imminent launch its own pay-per-click ad network, Microsoft today will reveal more modest plans. The company will demonstrate a prototype of a new paid search advertising platform at an event for ad clients in Redmond.

How to deflate a balloon !

At the sixth annual MSN Strategic Account Summit, Microsoft plans to show off to 500 of its top customers the new MSN adCenter, a platform that will eventually be used for ads throughout its network. The first component of adCenter is the paid search piece, which will be piloted within the next six months in Singapore and France to gather customer feedback. Eventually it will be launched worldwide.

NEVER before 2007 in America ? (Yahoo contract expire in june 2006 and normaly it's take 1 or 2 year to release 50% bugs free update to Microsoft)

"We're rolling out the pilots to demonstrate and learn what value software can add to the search platform," said Eric Hadley, senior director of advertising and marketing for MSN. "Right now, everybody thinks search is just about clicks, but it's about more than that. It's about connection with the customer."

Connection yes, but with the good content for users. MSN have always connected with advertisers but not with users outside its commercial entity.

The platform promises in-depth analytics and audience intelligence, including geographic location, gender, age group, lifestyle segment and time of day. Advertisers will be able to access this information before placing their ad, so they will know what to expect before launching their campaign.

Geographic location and time of day OK, but I'd like to see how; audience intelligence, gender, age group and lifestyle can be achieve to mass market without registering user of a search engine. Are we talking of a PPC Platform or a MY MSN + Passport search engine ?

"This will really help drive ROI and the effective results of a search campaign beyond just knowing if somebody clicked on it, but to know if someone is likely to click on it. We think that's a huge step forward in this category," Hadley said.

Like the mouseover tracking at Google SERPS ?

While the full-scale deployment of the platform is not likely to happen before the end of the year, MSN is getting some early praise for providing advertisers with more control over their campaigns.

Welcome beta testers who will gave us money to help us correcting multiple bugs !

"Microsoft has laid out a roadmap for a product that looks to be a leap forward," said Fredrick Marckini, CEO of iProspect. "By raising the bar, we're likely to see Google and Yahoo! raising the bar to keep up."

Should starting by giving us good results on organic search and may be users will come.