Every so often I go back and look at Microsoft AdCenter Labs for anything new - and sure enough - I found something pretty intriguing under the Contextual Advertising category called Explore MSN.

Explore MSN is an interactive query manager that allows you specify a query and the audience your looking to reach - it will then find content on Microsoft's Advertising network that matches your query.

In order to give Explore MSN a test run - I first want to figure out the audience for a website whose services I want to advertise and then I'll use Explore MSN to tell me where on Microsoft's Ad Network I might successfully run ads or aim content towards.   Here goes.

1. Use Microsoft AdCenter Demographic Prediction tool to determine the audience for www.brooklynartistsgym.com - a local art studio I paint in (when I get a chance to get over there).

The Demographic Prediction tool says the audience of Brooklynartistsgym.com is 63% Female and 37% Male with the most dominant age being 35 - 49 years old; however, 25-34 and 18-24 are also strongly represented in the audience - so it's mixed - but 35-49 year old females are the strongest segment.

Honestly, I don't know if Microsoft's Demographic Prediction tool truly represents the artists in my studio in terms of age or sex - but I'll go with it for this example.

Next, I'll look for the most popular terms associated with BrooklynArtistsGym.com using Google's free AdWords Keyword Research Tool - it's not perfect but it's the best keyword extractor / intelligence utility for sites that I've found, so far.  I extracted the following terms using the Keyword Research tool - a subset of all the terms returned.  Since The Brooklyn Artists Gym is located in Brooklyn, I think it's safe to add "Brooklyn" to a lot of the queries below because the audience, by a large measure - is going to be located within commuting distance of the studio - or else they'd not join or visit it, very likely.

Keywords	April Search Volume	Advertiser Competition
art galleries	3	5
art gallery	3	5
brooklyn ny art	3	4
contemporary art	3	5
fine art	3	5
modern art	3	5
new york art	3	4
abstract art	2	5
american art gallery	2	2
art classes	2	5
art consultant	2	4
art dealer	2	5
art museum gallery	2	0
art museums	2	4
art opportunities	2	3
art painting	2	5
art paintings	2	5
art shows	2	4
art software	2	5
emerging artists	2	4
nyc art gallery	2	0
online art gallery	2	5
juried art shows	1	2

 

3. I put in the query "Brooklyn art";I get these URLs - I pick the second one from the top, when I click on the "i" I get more information about the audience and location of those who view the page.

http://travel.msn.com/guides/article.aspx?cp-documentid=345573  - but looking at this page it does not appear a local Brooklyn Artist Studio would really have an ad here or even be able to put one here - so I looked at the rest of the results and found the last result to be better for an offbeat Artists' Studio: http://travel.msn.com/guides/article.aspx?cp-documentid=345481

I further refined the query to add "Also Try" selection on the middle right of the window: brooklyn art OR "brooklyn new"  OR "brooklyn bridg   and go one url that was even closer to what I was looking for:

http://travel.msn.com/guides/article.aspx?cp-documentid=345247   Frommer's Favorite Free & Affordable New York City Experiences

Now, I don't really see a place where a Brooklyn Artists' Gym ad could go - but assuming it could go here - this may be one place where the studio could advertise.

And, I suppose you could use another Microsoft AdCenter tool to create your ad called "AdWriter".

brooklyn artists
brooklyn artists gym, bag, studio space, new york artist, brooklyn art, brooklyn artist studio, art studio, brooklyn …www.brooklynartistsgym.com

Can't say this is a great ad - but it's a start.

So…what Microsoft is doing with AdCenter labs tools is very interesting - and in time, I think it will improve in quality and accuracy - but it's worth checking out now if you have the time and just want to play with the tools.