Microsoft adCenter

Microsoft adCenter, (formerly MSN adCenter), is the division of the Microsoft Network (MSN) responsible for MSN's advertising services. Microsoft adCenter currently provides pay per click advertisements. History Microsoft was the last of the "Big Three" search engines (Microsoft, Google and Yahoo!) to develop its own system for delivering pay per click (PPC) ads. Until the beginning of 2006, all of the ads displayed on the MSN search engine were supplied by Overture (and later Yahoo!). MSN collected a portion of the ad revenue in return for displaying Yahoo!'s ads on its search engine. As search marketing grew, Microsoft began developing its own system, Microsoft adCenter, for selling PPC advertisements directly to advertisers. As the system was phased in, MSN search showed Yahoo! and Microsoft adCenter advertising in its search results. As of June 2006, the contract between Yahoo! and Microsoft has expired and Microsoft is displaying only ads from adCenter. The Technology Similarly to Google AdWords, Microsoft adCenter uses both the maximum amount an advertiser is willing to pay per click (PPC) on their ad and the advertisement's click-through rate (CTR) to determine how frequently an advertisement is shown. This system encourages advertisers to write effective ads and to advertise only on searches which are relevant to their advertisement. Additionally, this system maximizes Microsoft's revenue. To see why, consider two advertisers. One advertiser is willing to pay $1 for every click on his ad, which is clicked on by 5% of those who view it. Another is willing to pay $2 for each click on his ad; however, that ad is only clicked on by 2% of those who view it. Over 1000 views, the first ad would generate $50 for Microsoft, while the second would generate only $40. Even though the second advertiser is willing to pay more than the first advertiser for each click, the first advertiser's ad would be preferred by Microsoft's system. Microsoft adCenter allows advertisers to target their ads by restricting their ads to a given set of demographics and by increasing their bids whenever the ad is seen by a user of a certain demographic. As of November 2006, no other PPC advertising system has a similar feature. Similarly, adCenter allows advertisers to run their ads on specific days of the week or certain times of day. Like Google Adwords, Microsoft Adcenter provides both UI and Web service API front end to advertisers, both are built on Microsft .Net 2.0 framework. Its backend consists of many partitioned SQL servers.

Yahoo! Search Marketing

Yahoo! Search Marketing (searchmarketing.yahoo.com) is a keyword-based "Pay per click" or "Sponsored search" Internet advertising service provided by Yahoo!. Yahoo began offering this service after acquiring Overture Services, Inc. (formerly Goto.com) (overture.com). Goto.com was an Idealab spin off and was the first company to successfully provide a Pay-for-placement search service following previous attempts that were not well received. Origins of Goto.com Goto.com was an Idealab spin off and was the first company to successfully provide a Pay-for-placement search service. In February 1998, GoTo offered advertisers the option of bidding on how much they would be willing to pay to appear at the top of results in response to specific searches. The bid amount was paid by the advertiser to Goto every time a searcher clicked on a link to the advertiser's website. By July 1998, advertisers were paying anything up to a dollar per click. GoTo's business model was based on the idea that its paid listings would make it more relevant than other services, especially for general searches, and web sites that pay more are probably better sites. A similar service had been offered by Open Text in 1996, but this precipitated outcries and bad publicity because searchers at the time did not want the search process more commercialized. In contrast, GoTo's pay-for-placement model was very succesful. Commentors theorised that the web had matured in the intervening two years, and these type of economic models were more acceptable since the web was no longer just a place for academic research, but also a place for buying products. GoTo founder Bill Gross speculated at the launch that GoTo would succeed because, as a relatively new service, it had no reputation to taint with paid listings, unlike Open Text. On October 8, 2001, Goto.com, Inc. renamed itself Overture Services, Inc.GoTo's chief operating officer Jaynie Studenmund said "We also felt it was a sophisticated enough name, in case our products expand." Through partnerships, Overture enabled portals such as MSN and Yahoo! to monetize the hundreds of millions of web searches made each day on their sites. Indeed, these partnerships proved highly lucrative, and in a period otherwise marked by dot-com failures, Overture became a substantial profit driver for portals like Yahoo! This success enabled Overture to acquire web sites such as AltaVista and AlltheWeb. Acquisition by Yahoo! In 2003, Overture was acquired by its biggest customer, Yahoo!, for $1.7 billion.The old brand name of Overture is now being phased out as Yahoo! re-brands all of its products under the Yahoo! name. Details of current service Goto.com's and Overture's original services provided only a list of search results ordered according to the bid amounts paid by the respective advertisers. Yahoo!'s Search Marketing service instead places ads around non-sponsored search results provided by Yahoo's search engine. Yahoo! Search Marketing also provides features such as Geo-targeting, Ad Testing, Campaign Budgeting, and Campaign scheduling. Patent litigation In May 1999, Goto.com filed a patent application titled "System and method for influencing a position on a search result list generated by a computer network search engine". The patent was granted as US patent 6269361 in July 2001. A related patent has also been granted in Australia and other patent applications remain pending. Prior to its acquisition by Yahoo!, Overture initiated infringement proceedings under this patent against FindWhat.com in January 2002 and Google in April 2002. The lawsuit against Google related to its AdWord service. In February 2002, Google introduced a service called AdWords Select that allowed marketers to bid for higher placement in marked sections - a tactic that had some similarities to Overture's search-listing auctions. Following Yahoo!'s acquisition of Overture, the lawsuit was settled with Google agreeing to issue 2.7 million shares of common stock to Yahoo! in exchange for a perpetual license. Adware partnership In April 2003, Overture announced a three-year partnership with Gator Corporation, (now Claria Corporation) an adware company. Under the partnership, Gator's software monitored a web-user's activity on web sites and search engines (even sites such as Google that are not affiliated with Overture) and grabbed search keywords. These keywords were submitted to the Overture search engine. As a result, advertisers who paid for listings in Overture found their products advertised through Gator's Search Scout software, even if they wanted nothing to do with Gator. Overture faced a great deal of criticism for entering into this partnership. When Yahoo acquired Overture, the Claria software impaired the operation of Yahoo's services. For example, when a user with a Claria application installed used Yahoo Search, they received a standard set of Yahoo results with sponsored listings at the top supplied by Overture. The user would then receive a full-screen pop-under window from Search Scout. Since Search Scout uses Overture's paid listings as well, Claria's window has the exact same listings as the Yahoo search results. Subsequently, Yahoo! came out with the Yahoo! Toolbar, which allows users to remove adware and spyware from their system. The toolbar affected the operation of Claria's software and may have put stress on the relationship between the two companies.Claria's website, claria.com, does not list Yahoo! as a partner and a March 2006 press relase states that they are exiting the adware business.

Google Adwords

AdWords is Google's flagship advertising product, and main source of revenue. AdWords offers pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and site-targeted advertising for both text and banner ads. The AdWords program includes local, national, and international distribution. Google's text advertisements are short, consisting of one title line and two content text lines. Image ads can be one of several different Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) standard sizes. Pay-Per-Click advertisements (PPC) Advertisers specify the words that should trigger their ads and the maximum amount they are willing to pay per click. When a user searches Google's search engine on www.google.com, ads for relevant words are shown as "sponsored link" on the right side of the screen, and sometimes above the main search results. The ordering of the paid listings depends on other advertisers' bids (thus the system is classified as P4P) and the "quality score" of all ads shown for a given search. The quality score is calculated by historical click-through rates and the relevance of an advertiser's ad text, keyword, and landing page to the search, as determined by Google. The quality score is also used by Google to set the minimum bids for an advertiser's keywords.[1] The auction mechanism that determines the order of the ads has been called a "generalized second price" auction. It is a variation of the Vickrey auction. Site targeted advertisements In 2003 Google introduced site-targeted advertising. Using the AdWords control panel, advertisers can enter keywords of interest, and Google will recommend relevant sites within their content network. Advertisers then bid on a cost per mille (CPM) basis for placement. AdWords distribution All AdWords ads are eligible to be shown on www.google.com. Advertisers also have the option of enabling their ads to show on Google's partner networks. The "search network" includes AOL search, Ask.com, and Netscape. Like www.google.com, these search engines show AdWords ads in response to user searches. The "content network" shows AdWords ads on sites that are not search engines. Google automatically determines the subject of the pages and displays ads for which the advertiser has specified an interest in that subject. The ads show in boxes resembling banner ads, with the designation "Ads By Gooooooooooogle." These content network sites are those that use AdSense, the other side of the Google advertising model. Click through rates on the content network are typically much lower than those on the search network and are therefore ignored when calculating an advertiser's quality score. AdWords is used by publishers who wish to bring traffic to their websites. The biggest competitors are Yahoo! Search Marketing (following Yahoo!'s acquisition of Overture Services, Inc.) and Microsoft adCenter. Click-to-Call Google Click-to-Call is a service provided by Google which allows users to call advertisers from Google search results pages. All calls are free at Google's expense. However, if the call is made to a mobile phone, the caller may incur fees depending on the mobile phone plan and the location of the caller and the advertiser (if they are in different countries at the time of the call, the call will probably cost more). Abuse of the service is easily achieved, making it questionable about how long it will continue to exist. As some individuals have pointed out in technology blogs, you can easily connect two different numbers who have no intention of talking to each other. This is easily accomplished by typing in the phone number of a company or other individual, which will then connect them to the directory listing selected. History The AdWords product was launched in 2000.At first advertisers would pay a monthly amount, and Google would set up and manage their campaign. To accommodate small businesses and those who wanted to manage their own campaigns, Google soon introduced the AdWords self-service portal. As of 2005, Google provides a campaign management service called Jumpstart to assist advertisers in setting up their campaigns. In 2005, Google launched a program to certify individuals and companies who have completed AdWords training and passed an exam. Due to the complexity of AdWords and the amount of money at stake, many advertisers choose to hire a consultant to manage their campaigns. Legal context AdWords has generated lawsuits in the area of trademark law and click fraud. Google recently settled a click fraud lawsuit for US$90 million. Overture Services, Inc. sued Google for patent infringement in April 2002 in relation to the AdWords service. Following Yahoo!'s acquisition of Overture, the suit was settled in 2004 with Google agreeing to issue 2.7 million shares of common stock to Yahoo! in exchange for a perpetual license under the patent. Ad blocking and Adwords Search The ads are displayed on the top or right hand side of the natural search results. The ads are pure text, and thus difficult to block for normal ad-blocking software. However, the Mozilla Firefox extension CustomizeGoogle can remove them. Content network Advertisements on content websites are displayed via javascript-generated iframes and can be easily blocked, either by turning off javascript or using ad-blocking software such as adblock. Proxies The search proxy Scroogle allows users to perform Google searches without receiving Google advertisements. Technology The AdWords system was initially implemented on top of the MySQL database engine. After the system had been launched, management decided to use a commercial database (Oracle) instead. As is typical of applications simultaneously written and tuned for one database, and ported to another, the system became much slower, so eventually it was returned to MySQL Competitors * Yahoo! Search Marketing * Microsoft adCenter

Rent A Coder

What Is Rent A Coder? Rent a coder is an international marketplace where people who need custom software developed can find coders in a safe and business-friendly environment. Buyers can cherry pick from a pool of 166,980 coders...enabling them to hire a coder across the country or across the globe…from the comfort of their computers. Buyers who wish to hire internationally, can take advantage of favorable overseas exchange rates, resulting in work being done for 50-90% less than if the project were done in-country. Coders are also given access to a huge pool of potential work and have the ability to work independently from their homes rather than for a company. How does it work? Buyers often need custom software developed to enhance their business or for personal use. These buyers post their projects on the Rent a Coder’s web site, along with a maximum amount that they are willing to pay. The project is seen by 166,980 coders world-wide and they place their bids on doing the work. The buyer can browse through each bidder’s resume, certifications and previous work history (including comments left by previous buyers) on the site. When the buyer finds a coder they like, they can hire them on the spot. To make the transaction a safe one, the buyer does not pay the coder directly, but escrows the funds into a special Rent A Coder account. This guarantees to the coder that the buyer is credit-worthy, and also reassures the buyer, because the coder receives no money until the work is completed. When the work (or pre-agreed on portion of the work) is completed…the buyer release the funds to the coder. When the work is completed, both parties rate the other party to help future buyers and coders on the site. Should a problem arise, the Rent a Coder facilitator will step in to help out. Should a dispute occur, the facilitator arbitrates according to the rules of the site to ensure a fair and equitable outcome for both parties. How does Rent a Coder make money? Rent a Coder makes money as a percentage fee of the final transaction amount. This fee is 15% and taken from the coder. It goes to pay credit card transaction fees, gateway fees, arbitration fees, affiliate fees, advertising fees and the remainder is the company’s profit. How did the idea for Rent a Coder come about? Rent a coder was the brainchild of Ian Ippolito, the CEO of Exhedra Solutions, Inc. As a programmer himself, Ian had been receiving too many requests for custom programming. After turning away paying customer after paying customer he realized that there was a need that was not being met. In January of 2001 he began sketching out the idea while on training trips and a long vacation in Italy. By the middle of the year the site was ready to go live. A year later in March 2003, the site facilitated 1,478 successful software projects per month, and that number has grown substantially since (up to date stats are here). The majority of buyers on the site are from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia (in order of volume). The majority of coders are from the United States, India and Romania (in order of volume). What are the latest statistics on Rent A Coder? Rent A Coder is a frenetic global marketplace made up of 69,162 buyers and 166,980 coders from virtually every country in the world. These users negotiate and complete thousands of projects each month. Rent A Coder statistics not only provide telling information on the Rent a Coder site itself, but also provide an instantaneous pulse reading on global and local trends in software development in general, such as outsourcing, offshoring and nearshoring. Click here to take the Pulse of Rent a Coder.

Google Adsense

AdSense is an ad serving program run by Google. Website owners can enroll in this program to enable text, image and, more recently, video advertisements on their sites. These ads are administered by Google and generate revenue on either a per-click or per-thousand-impressions basis. Google is also currently beta-testing a cost-per-action based service. Google utilizes its search technology to serve ads based on website content, the user's geographical location, and other factors. Those wanting to advertise with Google's targeted ad system may sign up through AdWords. AdSense has become a popular method of placing advertising on a website because the ads are less intrusive than most banners, and the content of the ads is often relevant to the website. It currently uses JavaScript code to incorporate the advertisements into a participating site. If it is included on a site which has not yet been crawled by the Mediabot, it will temporarily display advertisements for charitable causes known as public service announcements (PSAs). (Note that the Mediabot is a separate crawler from the Googlebot that maintains Google's search index.) Many sites use AdSense to monetize their content and some webmasters work hard to maximize their own AdSense income. They do this in three ways: 1. They use a wide range of traffic generating techniques including but not limited to online advertising. 2. They build valuable content on their sites; content which attracts AdSense ads and which pay out the most when they get clicked. 3. They use copy on their websites that encourage clicks on ads. Note that Google prohibits people from using phrases like "Click on my AdSense ads" to increase click rates. Phrases accepted are "Sponsored Links" and "Advertisements". The source of all AdSense income is the AdWords program which in turn has a complex pricing model based on a Vickrey second price auction, in that it commands an advertiser to submit a sealed bid (not observable by competitors). Additionally, for any given click received, advertisers only pay one bid increment above the second-highest bid. History The underlying technology behind AdSense was derived originally from WordNet and Simpli, a company started by the founder of Wordnet — George A. Miller — and a number of Professors and graduate students from Brown University, including James A. Anderson, Jeff Stibel and Steve Reiss. A variation of this technology utilizing Wordnet was developed by Oingo, a small search engine company based in Santa Monica founded in 1998. Oingo focused on semantic searches rather than brute force string searches. Oingo changed its name to Applied Semantics, which was then bought by Google for an undisclosed amount in April 2003, to replace a similar system being developed in house. AdSense for feeds In May 2005, Google unveiled AdSense for feeds, a version of AdSense that runs on RSS and Atom feeds that have more than 100 active subscribers. According to the Official Google Blog, "advertisers have their ads placed in the most appropriate feed articles; publishers are paid for their original content; readers see relevant advertising — and in the long run, more quality feeds to choose from". AdSense for feeds works by inserting images into a feed. When the image is displayed by the reader/browser, Google writes the ad content into the image that it returns. The ad content is chosen based on the content of the feed surrounding the image. When the user clicks the image, he or she is redirected to the advertiser's site in the same way as regular AdSense ads. AdSense for search A companion to the regular AdSense program, AdSense for search lets website owners place Google search boxes on their pages. When a user searches the web or the site with the search box, Google shares any ad revenue it makes from those searches with the site owner. However, only if the ads on the page are clicked, the publisher is paid. Adsense does not pay publishers for mere searches. How AdSense works Each time a visitor visits a page with an AdSense tag, a piece of JavaScript writes an iframe tag, whose src attribute includes the URL of the page. Google's servers use a cache of the page for the URL or the keywords in the URL itself to determine a set of high-value keywords. (Some of the details are described in the AdSense patent.) If keywords have been cached already, ads are served for those keywords based on the AdWords bidding system. Abuse Some webmasters create sites tailored to lure searchers from Google and other engines onto their AdSense site to make money from clicks. These "zombie" sites often contain nothing but a large amount of interconnected, automated content (e.g.: A directory with content from the Open Directory Project, or scraper sites relying on RSS feeds for content). Possibly the most popular form of such "AdSense farms" are splogs ("spam blogs"), which are centered around known high-paying keywords. Also many sites use free content from other web sites, such as Wikipedia, to attract visitors. These and related approaches are considered to be search engine spam and can be reported to Google. There have also been reports of Trojans engineered to produce fake Google ads that are formatted to look like legitimate ones. The Trojan Horse apparently downloads itself onto an unsuspecting computer through a web page and then replaces the original ads with its own set of malicious ads. Criticism Due to concerns about click fraud, Google AdSense has been criticized by some SEO firms as a large source of what Google calls "invalid clicks" in which one company clicks on a rival's search engine ads to drive up its costs. Some publishers have been blocked by Google, complaining that little justification or transparency was provided. To help prevent click fraud, publishers can choose from a number of click tracking programs. These programs will display detailed information about the visitors who click on the AdSense advertisements. Publishers can use that data to determine if they've been a victim of click fraud or not. There are a number of such commercial scripts available for purchase. An open source alternative is AdLogger. Google has also come under fire for allowing advertisers to abuse trademarks. In 2004, Google started allowing advertisers to bid on any search terms, including the trademarks of their competitors.