Live Search introduced some improvements to their search bot, mainly concerning bandwidth usage and crawling issues. Two major changes have been introduced:

1. HTTP Compression - static files and applications responses are now being packed using HTTP compression which reduces network load
2. Conditional Get - the bot will not download a page again unless it has been modified since the last crawl session; this is regulated according to RFC 2616 specifications

The user-agent signature has been updated to show msnbot/1.1.

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It seems Microsoft has fixed the MSNBot issue, where the bot crawled sites calling non-existent files and accessing content through bogus search queries that had nothing to do with the actual content. In their blog post, the Live Search team have explained a couple of other issues they’ve been working on resolving:

• AdSense/Overture reporting
• Distorted site statistics with unfilterable bot traffic
• Polluted HTTP logs with inappropriate terms
• Microsoft wasn’t responding to questions

See the entire post here.

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Microsoft announced the release a couple of new things yesterday - an accreditation progam called AdExcellence (similar to AdWords certification on Google), adCenter add-in for MS Excell 2007, and Webmaster Center (which has already been opened to the public a few days ago).

AdExcellence is a certification program designed to provide agencies and advertisers the opportunity of becoming certified adCenter experts and professionals. Upon successful completion candidates get a certificate and accompanying certification graphics for use on own websites.

The Excell 2007 adCenter add-in is a fully integrated tools for marketers allowing keyword research for targeting the most qualified traffic for their websites. Keyword data accessible from the add-in comes from the adCenter Keyword Services Platform (KSP), and the add-in itself will be available for download in early January 2008. The add-in basically uses web services to access information from adCenter, through KSP, although I imagine there could be far richer ways to integrate adCenter through Excell. Google has released AdWords Editor a while ago, a tool which enables marketers to control everything regarding their AdWords campaigns using a standalone desktop application. Microsoft seems to be working on such a tool for its AdCenter, but we have yet to see when such a tool will be released.

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Live.com announced on their Live Search Webmaster Center Blog that Webmaster Tools is now officially open to all webmasters and professionals. Webmaster Tools was until recently in “private beta”, and only those who registered earlier could get an account and use the tools. If you haven’t registered for the private beta, now is the chance to open an account and start using Webmaster Tools. There isn’t too much to see there right now, and everything pretty much boils down to being able to check for crawling errors and submit a sitemap for faster/easier crawling. I hope we’ll be seeing a lot more on the site in the future.

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Microsoft has delivered on the announcement given in late August about opening Webmaster Portal (Center) to the public. The service is now live and available for general public at this address - webmaster.live.com . The official name is Live Search Webmaster Center.

Users are asked to authenticate administration rights for the sites listed in their account by uploading a specially created XML file or by inserting a tag in the META tags portion of the page code. Uploading the XML file seems like a much better solution in my opinion - easier and you don’t have to mess with changing page code.

Additionally, this post on the Live Search Official Blog invites everyone to visit the newly started Live Search Webmaster Center Blog for information and discussions about the new portal.

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Following Live Search updates a few weeks ago, Microsoft has rolled out additional changes that are the end of Live Search service updates for this fall. Updates consist of the following:

Maps and Directions

• Innovative driving directions
• Innovative visualization and 3-D
• Innovative local content index including user-generated content
• Virtual Earth platform updates

Mobile Enhancements

• Live Search for Windows Mobile with voice input
• Live Search 411
• Live Search for use with BlackBerry® Devices

Read in more detail in their official press release.

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Microsoft is planning to make available software that connects the Windows OS to services delivered over the Internet this week. This concept, often referred to as cloud computing, is part of Microsoft’s initiative that will connect the OS with online services. There was talk about cloud computing as something that may be the founding block of the new web (Web 3.0?), as Eric Schmidt said here. This move on Microsoft’s part may in fact put Microsoft back in the game. Microsoft cannot compete directly with its search engine, but with service and OS integration they will be able to keep their hundreds of millions of customers close and away from competitors such as Google or SalesForce.com, both of which offer plenty of software solutions online otherwise offered on desktop computers by Microsoft.

Microsoft’s desktop monopoly has been threatened for a long time by hundreds of companies who offer online services that require nothing more than Internet access and web browsers, while all data is stored on servers. As the industry is moving more towards the “on-demand model”, Microsoft is just in time with this change. Look forward to seeing Windows Live Photo Gallery, Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger 8.5 and Windows Live OneCare Family Safety, as well as Windows Live Writer for blogging, with SkyDrive and FolderShare to join the list very soon as additional services for data storage. As Bill Gates put it “When you think storage, think Windows Live”. Microsoft aims to separate user data and applications from devices on which they are used. Windows Live Service will be available at Live.com soon, so stay tuned!

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After having taken offline the only tool on Live.com, the link operator, in March this year, Live is back with a promising announcement. They’re putting together Webmaster Portal, a special place for webmasters where there will be tools and information about Live SEO. Initially, here’s what we’ll get:

• Troubleshooting tools to ensure MSNBot is effectively crawling and indexing your site
• Sitemap creation, submission and ping tools
• Statistics about your website
• Consolidation of content submission resources
• New content and community resources

The tools are expected to be available publicly this late Fall, but you can sign-up for the beta program right now if you want to dive in right away.

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Microsoft announced it will release Content Ads within its AdCenter to users in the US. Microsoft Content Ads is a system that allows you to place content targeted ads on the Microsoft network. The Microsoft network includes many sites such as MSN Tech & Gadgets, Money, Real Estate, and Windows Marketplace. Microsoft says they will include other properties in the MSN network over time. Users will be able to control the price for the ads as well as where they will appear on the network.

This may be a very interesting development, since now Microsoft will be offering something Google has done for several years with AsSense. This move puts Microsoft in the ballpark with Google, which may in turn produce positive developments. The two will have to compete for user attention which in the end will benefit the end users.

Read in more detail on AdCenter Blog.

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Microsoft Corporation has acquired aQuantive Inc (for $6 billion). This is a move that Microsoft hopes will provide the industry with a world-class advertising platform on all devices and media, creating the best experience for everyone - users, advertisers and publishers.

Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group (APS), created by Microsoft, will be responsible for building Microsoft’s monetization engine to serve the advertisers and publishers. The APS will assume responsibility for building and marketing efforts on all ad platforms - Atlas, DRIVEpm, MSNDR and Microsoft AdCenter, as well as on emerging media types such as in-game ads and mobile ads, the two advertising platforms that seem to be gaining much attention over the past months.

Today we take a significant step forward in our ability to capture share of the $40 billion online ad opportunity and the larger $600 billion ad market, which is rapidly shifting to the world of online and IP-served platforms, including TV and gaming…

The addition of aQuantive’s technologies and people to the Microsoft portfolio is a core, strategic investment and step forward in our plans to become one of the top two online advertising platforms in the industry.

aQuantive was founded in 1997, and has soon risen to be a leader in digital marketing services. This acquisition by Microsoft is a move that just may put the big M in line with its two main competitors, Google and Yahoo. Google is already far ahead from the two, but with recent efforts from Microsoft regarding search technology improvements and redesigns, and now a creation of what may prove to be a very powerful ad delivery platform, Microsoft just may be able to get back into the advertising space and gain significant improvements. These improvements just may be what it takes for Microsoft to get back into the game.

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