14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has begun announcing the online advertising breakthroughs developed by its adCenter Labs. According to the Redmond Company, the size of the adCenter Labs, that were created in 2006, account currently for over 120 top researchers and engineers.
Data mining, information retrieval, statistical analysis, artificial intelligence, auction theory, visual computing and digital media are among the technologies that Microsoft researchers in Redmond and Beijing have been focusing on in 2006.
"AdCenter Labs researchers are working on more than 60 online marketing tools and technologies, which are at various stages of development, testing and integration into Microsoft advertising products and services," revealed Microsoft.
Here is a list published by Microsoft, included in a press release presenting Microsoft's breakthrough online advertising technologies:
Video-Display Ads Online video provides advertisers with a powerful medium to connect with consumers, particularly when the video includes interactive and other advanced technology.
Social video sharing This tool allows users to highlight and comment on a specific area of a video frame. This enables consumers to have meaningful social interactions around specific things in the video, such as being able to discuss how a goalie just blocked a soccer goal, or ask questions about a step in a cooking instruction.
Video hyperlinks The first stand-alone product developed by adCenter Labs, this tool lets marketers embed video hyperlinks within online video ads. The hyperlinks, which can be associated with specific products in the video, take consumers to Web sites where they can obtain additional information about products or purchase them.
Large display feedback Vision-based technology creates interactive public displays that consumers can remotely control. The technology also can measure the size of the audience and estimate demographics.
Keyword Optimization Keyword technology is vital to paid-search and content ads, allowing advertisers to reach consumers who are interested in their products and services based on the terms they enter into online search tools.
Commercial intent detection Advanced keyword analysis helps differentiate consumers who are looking to make an online purchase from those who are only searching for information about products.
Query entity detection adCenter technology is designed to detect the best way to break down a multiword query. For instance, if a user searches for "real estate agent," adCenter Labs' tool can tell that the "real estate" is one phrase and "agent" is another. This technology helps to determine the meaning of a query term so the relevance of search results can be improved.
Keyword service platform This server product provides a set of services that can be built into Web applications to analyze keywords.
Contextual advertising AdCenter Labs' technology classifies Web sites and keywords into hierarchical taxonomy. This helps increase the relevance of contextual ads by making sure the categories of publisher sites are relevant to advertisers' products and services.
Consumer Orientation The placement of online advertising must factor in the tendencies and tastes of different consumers audiences.
Sensitive content detection This technology helps determine whether a Web page contains content that the general public might consider objectionable, such as pornography, crime or terrorism.