Web Marketing Strategy Update

From ClickZ News:

NEW YORK - Microsoft’s MSN has launched its paid search service in France and Singapore, according to the portal’s SVP Yusuf Mehdi.

Mehdi described the service, which is powered by MSN’s in-development adCenter platform, during his keynote address at the kick-off of Advertising Week in New York.

The features resemble those now available through Google AdSense and Yahoo! Search Marketing, but with some twists. They include a manual keyword selection tool, a “site analyzer” keyword suggestion module, demographic targeting, and assistance with budget allocation. The launches — today in France and on August 31 in Singapore — follow pilot programs in both countries.

The service is the first component of a total ad management platform that the Microsoft will use to sell media across all its channels and properties. Mehdi said adCenter will offer media planning and buying across everything from Web to e-mail to interactive TV.

Mehdi admitted the current functionality is “paid search as you know it today, but we introduced better audience intelligence. You can do amazing research even before you start a campaign.”

He said, for instance, that wine marketers in the French beta have called up detailed demographic information on who searches for “vin” (wine) by age.

I came across Blog Submitter Pro 7.0 through an emailed affiliate recommendation. The site headline reads:

“New Blog Submission Software Takes TOTAL DOMINATION To A Whole New Level, And Allows Complete Control Over Any Market and Any Product You Sell. — Renders All Other Marketing Methods Totally Useless by Comparison”

Quite a claim, eh? Totally ridiculous hype of course. But that seems to be the norm these days. My issue is with the software itself.

I might wear a grey hat sometimes, and Google may think I’m a bit thin in places, but even to me it’s clear that this new, “killer marketing app” crosses the line.

The goal is innocuous enough: make comments on blog posts related to the topic (or in this case, simply keywords) that your site covers. In doing so increase the value of your site in the eyes of Google (and other search engines).

The method of attaining it is the problem.

Let me ask you a question. What is the Comments function on a blog for?

For commenting on the post, right? To build on it. Add opinions. Ask questions. Perhaps create discussion.