Bloggers who use MSN Spaces for their posts can place advertising on their blogs now, with options for Amazon associates and Kanoodle ads offered.
Are the changes in MSN Spaces just feature upgrades, or a hint at a future Microsoft purchase? Will allowing advertising encourage you to blog on MSN Spaces? Post about it at WebProWorld.
MAKE MONEY FA$T! That’s the implicit message behind two of the many changes MSN implemented recently, as they added a couple of options for monetizing a blog on MSN Spaces.
The service now permits users to have associate links to Amazon on their sites. Associates receive a piece of the action whenever someone purchases an item through the Amazon link containing the associate ID.
MSN also said bloggers can earn money with Kanoodle advertisements. Microsoft’s relationship with Yahoo, which provides contextual advertising on MSN, ends in June 2006. It is interesting that MSN is going with Kanoodle here instead of Yahoo, as either solution would likely serve as a place-filler until MSN adCenter launches in July.
Perhaps Microsoft likes Kanoodle in an acquisitive way. Microsoft’s CFO, Chris Liddell, did suggest Microsoft may buy its way into online advertising through picking up smaller companies. And Kanoodle does have some good partnerships in place with the likes of MarketWatch and USAToday online.
Quite a few other changes in MSN Spaces benefit its users. One late-arriving development lets them add descriptions and comments to photos, a la Flickr. The storage limit has been removed, permitting the upload of 500 photos per month.
Xbox 360 gamers can add their Xbox Live Gamercard to Spaces and list Recently Played Games. The Live Contacts Beta, one of many Windows Live projects, will launch as a feature in Spaces, too.
The blog also cited plans to expand MSN Spaces beyond its current markets. “We are launching in five new markets (Latin America, South Africa, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Singapore),” they posted.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
