I was told by a high level Microsoft employee that the beta search will go live on Feb 1.
He also informed me that advertising on MSN will continue to be the two featured listings at the top and the Overture results through the end of the year.
That I find interesting since Microsoft is actively reaching out for people who have search experience to help develop the marketing for their PPC. Guess they have allotted until the end of the year to have everything in place to go live.

I am now anxiously awaiting to see if this turns our to be correct!

The beta SERPs do appear to be improving as they continue to tweak things there, but February 1st still sounds a bit optimistic to me. Then again, when has MSFT ever waited to release something until it was polished to near-perfection? :)

I would not etch it in stone... but it is a statement from a relatively high placed Microsoft employee... if there was one I can try to get a copy of the internal memo ...
I don't make these things up... got the affiliate thing at Google really early too.

Sorry, AW -- didn't intend to make it sound like I doubted you at all. The "optimistic" comment was directed toward MSFT - I think they're being optimistic with such a target date.

just released my own website last monday, and having an excellent position on MSN beta for my main target keyphrase!

I'm excited to see what they will get me in terms of traffic once they roll out.

He also informed me that advertising on MSN will continue to be the two featured listings at the top and the Overture results through the end of the year.

Hi Aussie, do you mean the MSN / Overture contract will terminate end of 2005 ?

Hi Aussie, do you mean the MSN / Overture contract will terminate end of 2005 ?
That would be the logical conclusion... though if the contract is end dated for a different date maybe that will be the exact conclusion of the relationship ... or there must be a buy out.

Has there been any talk of MS buying Yahoo!/Overture?

<sorry if OT or already discussed>

Has there been any talk of MS buying Yahoo!/Overture?

<sorry if OT or already discussed>
Why buy a product that has a bad rap and is losing it position?

Why buy a product that has a bad rap and is losing it position?
True - just thinking of it as a move to take control of the market share in search.

True - just thinking of it as a move to take control of the market share in search.
All they need to do is offer an agency commission... 5-15% will get a bunch of big agencies really interested... then the rest will follow anyway.

I'm glad to see them going live. I've had better results with the beta than the present MSN Search. Has anyone else heard that Microsoft will also be launching their own Pay Per Click solution?

I'm glad to see them going live. I've had better results with the beta than the present MSN Search. Has anyone else heard that Microsoft will also be launching their own Pay Per Click solution?
Yes they are going to have their own PPC - why else get into search? And they are already reaching out to people to join the sales team.

Hi Aussie, do you mean the MSN / Overture contract will terminate end of 2005 ?
I have seen somewhere that it runs out in June 2006...

I have seen somewhere that it runs out in June 2006...

I did some search and according this article (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/07/14/yahoo_buys_overture/) published on the 14th of july 2003:
"MSN's contract with Overture ends in December 2005. It seems unlikely that MSN will renew the contract - which means going to Google, or Findwhat.com/Espotting"

I did some search and according this article (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/07/14/yahoo_buys_overture/) published on the 14th of july 2003:
"MSN's contract with Overture ends in December 2005. It seems unlikely that MSN will renew the contract - which means going to Google, or Findwhat.com/Espotting"
Why go to Google etc??? They would roll out there own PPC sales etc.

Why go to Google etc??? They would roll out there own PPC sales etc.

True, but back in July of '03 when an MSN search engine was still vaporware, the thought of them doing their own PPC would've been preposterous.

just released my own website last monday, and having an excellent position on MSN beta for my main target keyphrase!


Thats the buzz that launched google into the hearts and minds of webmasters.

And it trickled down ..and out ..and up. If MSN gives the "small guy" a shot, its all but over for google.

eh, ain't nothin' all but over for Google. They are still doing a lot of things right.

eh, ain't nothin' all but over for Google. They are still doing a lot of things right.

Agreed, but the opportunity to catch G is better now than it was 12-18 months ago. I'm finally starting to hear from clients and friends that something seems "different/wrong" with G. MSN certainly has opportunity staring them in the face.

Things haven't been right at google since December 16th LOL

IMO – MSN Search (Beta) is NOW LIVE! (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=3771)

Wooo Hoooo! Sooner the better

Why buy a product that has a bad rap and is losing it position?Often the best time to buy, cheap, or at least not over-priced.

I have noticed that in MSN Beta New domains are doing well. People are nowadays unhappy with google sandbox effect, which lasts for 6 to 8 months. I guess people will start love msn becasue they are seeing their site ranks well in MSN beta, which are not even crawled by google.

IMO � MSN Search (Beta) is NOW LIVE! (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=3771)
Not from my area... but they have been testing hard in the UK from what I gather.... so maybe you are another area where they are pushing results out to test responses.
In all honesty can they believe people would be happy with the stuff they have there now... for my verticals there is still too much duplication and obvious spam.

People are nowadays unhappy with google sandbox effect, which lasts for 6 to 8 months.

6 to 8 months, I wish...next month will be one year...

6 to 8 months, I wish...next month will be one year...
That is impressive... have you checked for any possibility of penalty etc.

well, my PR keeps going up...my allin searches keep going up...I've got about twice as many backlinks as most of my competitors...i'm adding content all the time...and i've heard of alot of sites that are going on 11-12 months...plus, i've yet to see a site come out of the sandbox and rank #1 for a 1,000,000+ keyword...all I know is that once the sandbox penalty is lifted, I'm gonna dominate...

well, my PR keeps going up...my allin searches keep going up...I've got about twice as many backlinks as most of my competitors...i'm adding content all the time...and i've heard of alot of sites that are going on 11-12 months...plus, i've yet to see a site come out of the sandbox and rank #1 for a 1,000,000+ keyword...all I know is that once the sandbox penalty is lifted, I'm gonna dominate...
lol... that is impressive and with that attitude I think you may get there!

well, i've already gone through every level of frustration...so i thought i'd give hopefulness a try...