About a month after rolling out a set of vertical apps under the MSN banner, Microsoft is rolling out in-app advertising. The apps, which are available on iOS, Android and Amazon devices, include News, Weather, Sports, Money, Health & Fitness and Food & Drink, aggregating content from more than 1,000 publishing partners.
Brands and agencies can begin purchasing ads starting today in 24 of the 56 markets in which MSN Apps are available. The ad formats are limited to the standard 320 x 50 smartphone unit and 300 x 50 tablet unit.
Users can synch their MSN preferences across devices, which in turn lends advertisers cross-device and -platform targeting options. That means ad campaigns don’t have to be siloed to mobile-only or within the separate Android or iOS ecosystems.
“Advertisers have a unique opportunity to reach their audience in the right context and mindset, with targeted advertising across multiple screens and platforms,” said Greg Nelson, head of display advertising at Microsoft in the announcement.
Adding cross-platform accessibility for consumers and advertisers has quickly become a hallmark of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s strategy for the company. Cross-platform mobile targeting is an appealing prospect for advertisers, but whether ad buyers bite, particularly with such limited creative options, will be interesting to watch. It’s not clear what kind of reach the apps have at this point.
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