Microsoft adCenter has sent out a notification to some publishers stating that they will be automatically included in a Content Ads Pilot Program beginnning 1/25/07. A member at WebmasterWorld Forums stated that:

The email stated that my current settings will be changed and I will HAVE to start using the new Content Beta. With NO option to opt out, just stating that it is going to happen on 1/25/07.

I contacted AdCenter support who were no help at all. They tried to show me how to opt out, but had no clue themselves. I am 'supposed' to get a call back in one week (the day before the account will switch over).

There were other members who felt frustrated with the unprofessional attitude and absolute lack of support. It is actually a beta program which might be operative in U.S. only. Given the lack of options and channels for monetizing, the MSN content network has its bagful of unhappy customers.

I am on the content program and would love to get off of it, please adcenter, tell me how to get off. I have errors constantly, included many "unexpected errors." I have been unable to upload and download my account keywords for over 2 weeks so I must change every bid manually, which is a lot harder to do on MSN vs the competition.

However, help reached a little late when a guy from Microsoft clarified that there are options to opt out of the program.

A select number of adCenter customers are being migrated to the beta site so that we can expand our Content Ads pilot and gather feedback on the next version of the adCenter User Interface. All advertisers selected for migration will be given access to the beta site and an improved set of campaign management tools, reporting tools and navigation. We selected advertisers based upon their match to the MSN inventory we have available and to provide access to a sampling of advertisers…Once you have migrated to the beta site, you can turn off content ads. We'll be posting detailed instructions with screen shots on our blog on Monday.

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