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Are Windows Live Messenger advertisements becoming more obstructive?
on Tue 15 Dec 2009 (21:41 GMT) (21336 views)
on Tue 15 Dec 2009 (21:41 GMT) (21336 views)
Microsoft generates profit on Windows Live Messenger through advertising, duh? So I want to start this post by saying without advertising in Messenger it wouldn't exist and thus they are a necessary evil in order to keep the service free. You probably notice the image advertisement on your contact list and a small text one at the bottom of your conservation window. However, it's the changes to these formats which are causing concern.
Previously we have reported on the content of some advertisments but the worry now is on the obstructive nature of some of these within the contact list and the size of those present in leaked screenshots of Windows Live Messenger 2010 last week. Take the example of the advertisement below (this is the rollover effect):
If the screenshots leaked last week of Windows Live Messenger 10 are indeed real then the situation could get worse:
So what's your opinion of advertising within Windows Live Messenger? Do you patch them out or use skins to mask them up? Do you ever find an advert relevant to your interests? As ever I'm always interested in opinions of users and this post is a response to the concerns I've been hearing the past week.
Previously we have reported on the content of some advertisments but the worry now is on the obstructive nature of some of these within the contact list and the size of those present in leaked screenshots of Windows Live Messenger 2010 last week. Take the example of the advertisement below (this is the rollover effect):
If the screenshots leaked last week of Windows Live Messenger 10 are indeed real then the situation could get worse:
So what's your opinion of advertising within Windows Live Messenger? Do you patch them out or use skins to mask them up? Do you ever find an advert relevant to your interests? As ever I'm always interested in opinions of users and this post is a response to the concerns I've been hearing the past week.
There have been several new advertisements, mostly in North America, to promote MSN (not Windows Live, apparently there is a difference: Windows Live being mainly services and MSN mostly content). These are, to say the least, terrible. Yes they are imaginative, but they just make no sense!
Again it's up to good old LiveSide to sum up the story:
Again it's up to good old LiveSide to sum up the story:
It appeared this week in south Seattle, and I've been hearing some radio ads on local stations, too. Apparently this is part of a new campaign by The Wunderman Network, called No One Wants To Look Dumb, which as far as I can tell fails its own test, miserably. Aside from the 'ad campaign from your parents generation' look and feel to the whole thing, there's the videos.
It appears that text based Ads have started to appear in the webcam area whilst initiating a video enabled conversation. The text in blue is a standard link and you are able to highlight and click it to open the targeted site.
My criticism would be is this really targeted and would be successful?
After all on a good connection the ad is only displayed for a few seconds at most, and I wouldn't imagine that people initiating in webcam conversations are the ideal target audience for loans. Normally the adverts in this loading space are for webcam's and headsets, this suits perfectly and is pretty well targeted.
Can we expect more of these text ads to come?
My criticism would be is this really targeted and would be successful?
After all on a good connection the ad is only displayed for a few seconds at most, and I wouldn't imagine that people initiating in webcam conversations are the ideal target audience for loans. Normally the adverts in this loading space are for webcam's and headsets, this suits perfectly and is pretty well targeted.
Can we expect more of these text ads to come?
All around the internet I see advertisements about Windows Live Messenger. Flash videos and now even television advertisements are appearing, Microsoft seriously want people to start using Windows Live Messenger and the rest of their recently launched Windows Live services.
I think I should point out this website here, it shows two videos so far promoting Windows Live Messenger in a humorous way. I'm not sure they will appear on local television anytime soon, they appear to have English accents and over here Microsoft adverts tend to be 'Your potential, our passion' things. They were apparently made by the same company that made the small 'The Way News Spreads' site earlier this year. These seem to be Microsoft's attempts at viral marketing - meaning that you see it and tell you friends who then download Windows Live Messenger.
Also I just found a nice flash video about the Yahoo! Messenger integration, which you can see below:
I bet we can expect more promotion websites coming along soon, Microsoft are really keen to get Windows Live Messenger noticed. I was just viewing a catalogue the other day and some webcams were on it, and right next to them was a big logo saying 'Compatible with Windows Live Messenger'. Also, the UK bank NatWest were recently offering free webcams and headsets for 'Windows Live Messenger' (it looked like an obvious Microsoft sposorship) for people who signed up to their student account online. This promotion also gave information about how Windows Live Messenger is 'the new MSN Messenger with new features'. Just goes to show Microsoft are not just advertising on the Internet.
"Careless messaging costs lives" video site
I think I should point out this website here, it shows two videos so far promoting Windows Live Messenger in a humorous way. I'm not sure they will appear on local television anytime soon, they appear to have English accents and over here Microsoft adverts tend to be 'Your potential, our passion' things. They were apparently made by the same company that made the small 'The Way News Spreads' site earlier this year. These seem to be Microsoft's attempts at viral marketing - meaning that you see it and tell you friends who then download Windows Live Messenger.
Also I just found a nice flash video about the Yahoo! Messenger integration, which you can see below:
I bet we can expect more promotion websites coming along soon, Microsoft are really keen to get Windows Live Messenger noticed. I was just viewing a catalogue the other day and some webcams were on it, and right next to them was a big logo saying 'Compatible with Windows Live Messenger'. Also, the UK bank NatWest were recently offering free webcams and headsets for 'Windows Live Messenger' (it looked like an obvious Microsoft sposorship) for people who signed up to their student account online. This promotion also gave information about how Windows Live Messenger is 'the new MSN Messenger with new features'. Just goes to show Microsoft are not just advertising on the Internet.
"Careless messaging costs lives" video siteOh those lovely advertisements we have in the conversation windows in messenger. They first reached our eyes in the first betas of MSN Messenger 7.0 (ah, back in the days), small text link ad's so Microsoft could get that slightly bit richer. Alot of us patch them out, well I do so I hardly notice their existence, but one person has picked up on some very, well odd advertisements links ...
When I ever used the ad's I noticed they had good quality control in MSN Messenger but apparently some bad apples slip through the net and display themselves to any age group etc. This is nothing serious, just very odd names to catch your attention.
Things like, "Have you got balls? World Cup soccer balls" and "Girls, girls, girls". Nevertheless, they could not be (how should I call it), child friendly websites, or they may lead to places trying to scam you out of something. I have not seen these links so I do not know, yet apparently this is not a rare case. The links in the following screenshot were picked up within minutes. All I can say is, dodgy Microsoft.
View a screenshot of some odd links
When I ever used the ad's I noticed they had good quality control in MSN Messenger but apparently some bad apples slip through the net and display themselves to any age group etc. This is nothing serious, just very odd names to catch your attention.
Things like, "Have you got balls? World Cup soccer balls" and "Girls, girls, girls". Nevertheless, they could not be (how should I call it), child friendly websites, or they may lead to places trying to scam you out of something. I have not seen these links so I do not know, yet apparently this is not a rare case. The links in the following screenshot were picked up within minutes. All I can say is, dodgy Microsoft.
View a screenshot of some odd linksPage: 1
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