Microsoft not disclosing AdCenter placements on Live.com Search Results

Fri, Mar 10, 2006 Posted By:Eric Friedman

Interactive Advertising, Internet, Marketing, Marketing.fm

Update: (3/21/06) Just days after I posted this entry a visitor from the Microsoft.com domain showed up on my log files and it appears the search.live.com is now showing “sponsored sites” above the advertisements…

Normal search engines and their ad programs such as Google AdSense and Yahoo Publisher Network clearly show the web user the difference between organic search results and paid search results. As you can see below here is an example of google search results for the word “search”.

Google Ads
Clearly marked are the words “Sponsored Links”

I recently checked out the new Live.com search features on Scobles suggestion, which includes new things like the infinite scrollbar, and other innovative features that make it a cleaner and easier to use interface.

Here are the results from the new live.com search results.

Live.com Results

Where is the advertising? hint: its not marked!


Now clearly its safe to say most users recognize that the advertising appears to the right of the organic search results but the new Live.com doesnt point this out! I realize that Live.com is currently in beta but this seems like quite an oversight for such an advanced facelift to what will soon become the MSN search client. Given the recent happenings with click fraud and search engine marketing becoming so big, I would think that Microsoft would be more careful with ad networks being under such scrutiny in the past. After doing some research it seems even the FTC has weighed in on the issue stating:
“As a general matter, clear and conspicuous disclosures would put consumers in a position to better determine the importance of these practices [use of paid content] in their choice of search engines to use,”

Here are closeups of the screenshots in question:

Live.com Results
Ads not marked

Google Results
Google ads clearly marked

I wonder though if this is in fact an oversight or rather a new way of presenting search results. Live.com does present each area in its own new “box” but even so, the standards of identifying advertisements must be met. It is not clear to some searchers what is advertising and what is not. If there is any wonder when this was discovered just see any of these articles.
SEW
Paid Content Disclosure Ratings: June 2002

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This post was written by:

Eric Friedman - who has written 647 posts on Eric Friedman – Marketing.fm.

Analyst at Union Square Ventures, blogger at www.marketing.fm and operating experience within SEM, SEO, and Social Media. You should follow me on twitter @EricFriedman

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  • A convention yes, but still a strong one. Turns out after I checked again they marked them correctly. I also checked my log files and I did get some traffic from the microsoft.com domain....who knows what that means:)
  • Well, its not a requirement, just a convention...and it is still beta, so maybe its just an oversight.

    When it really goes live and Joe and Jane user start hitting it, I'm guessing they'll get the ad disclosure up one way or another.
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