Okay, maybe not, but babysitting the kids once they’re home is one of several services Windows Live is planning to add; Reuters says that parental controls to help monitor and restrict their kids’ online activities will debut for the portal sometime this summer. And that’s not all! Search Engine Journal said yesterday that Windows Live Video, a YouTube/Google Video competitor that would allow content owners to sell their own clips, is “close” to its own debut. But wait, there’s more! A Microsoft Press Release today announces that MSN Spaces, Office Live and Windows Live Mail have begun testing display ads in a number of markets around the world.
Microsoft says that the ad effort is one way of offsetting the cost of free services like email and web hosting. 20 advertisers are participating in the tests, including monster companies like Coca-Cola, JCPenney and, well, Monster Worldwide. Office Live is testing ads only in the US and MSN Spaces ads are exclusive to Italy and Australia, but Windows Live Mail display ads are up in those markets in addition to several others in Western Europe, China and Canada.
While the experiment will obviously help determine which ad models give advertisers the most bang for their buck, Microsoft also talks about “adding value to the consumer experience.” Not sure what they’re getting at there, but at least they can avoid worsening the consumer experience; Loren Baker hopes that the tests lead “to a stronger branding sponsorship of the overall Live experience, as opposed to the horrid ads being served across Hotmail and MSN services of yesteryear.”
Jen Slegg questions the MSN spaces ads on the Search Engine Watch blog, pointing out that “competitive services such as Blogger are not only ad-free, but provide tools for bloggers to earn revenue through easy implementation of Google AdSense.” She’s got a point. Are the Italian and Australian bloggers going to get a cut of the ad revenue resulting from content they create?
