Microsoft Rolling Out Ads On MSN Apps For iOS And Android

Cross-platform advertising now available in 24 markets across the vertical apps that launched a month ago.

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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.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Ginny Marvin
Contributor
Ginny Marvin was formerly Third Door Media’s Editor-in-Chief, running the day-to-day editorial operations across all publications and overseeing paid media coverage. Ginny Marvin wrote about paid digital advertising and analytics news and trends for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and MarTech Today. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.

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