MS PubCenter Help

Internet Summaries

Microsoft does not make their HELP Topics for PubCenter indexable, or linkable. So, I have therefore recreated the MS PubCenter HELP in a form that IS web-indexable. To read more, visit the official MS PubCenter Help.

This is a one-page summary. It prevents you from having to renavigate over 30 times to see all the MS PubCenter HELP content. Being redundant and superfluous, all of the references to "Related Topics" have been removed, since the topics are all on this page.

Table of Contents
1. About MS PubCenter
2. Accounts
3. Ad Units

4. Channels
5. Filters
6. Properties
7. Reports . . . . . . . . Disclaimer

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Text

About Microsoft adCenter Publisher

* What is Microsoft adCenter Publisher?

About adCenter Publisher

Microsoft adCenter Publisher allows Web site publishers to place ads on their pages. Through adCenter Publisher, publishers gain access to many online advertisers, control how the ads look, evaluate their performance, and adjust settings for relevance of ads, page content, and audience.

There is no cost for publishers to join adCenter Publisher, provided they meet the adCenter Publisher guidelines for participation. Payments are issued either when ads are clicked or for the number of gross impressions the ads generate on the publisher's site. There are no restrictions on how big or small a Web site can be, but publishers must have and administer a site to participate. A publisher can use adCenter Publisher whether they have a large or small website.

Other products. In addition to adCenter Publisher, Microsoft offers adCenter, which allows advertisers to place ads on search engines as well as select MSN properties and other web pages.

* Ads FAQ

(integrated from a separate section)

Ads FAQ

Where do ads come from?
All advertisers that meet our editorial and other program policies are free to sign up with Microsoft adCenter. These advertisers range from large and small businesses to commercial and charitable organizations, individuals, and others with a message to promote.

Do these advertisers advertise on other search engines?
Certainly most online advertisers use more than one search engine, so in all likelihood, the majority of our advertisers use other search engines (as well as other media) in addition to Microsoft adCenter Publisher. adCenter Publisher places no restrictions on advertisers using other media.

Are some of the ads the same?
Microsoft adCenter Publisher makes it possible to import campaigns, keywords, and advertisements from other search engines, and many users take advantage of this useful feature. Without a doubt, many advertisements are very similar to those on other search engines, if not in many cases even identical.

What can I do if I receive very few ads, or poorly targeted ads?
Make sure your Robots.txt file is crawlable. When you first place the code for your adCenter Publisher ad unit on your approved Web page, the ads may not appear if the robots.txt file for your site is not configured to allow access by MSN crawlers.

The robots.txt file must be edited to allow two crawlers:
* User-agent: MSNBot
* User-agent: MSNPTC

The www.robotstxt.org site has detailed information about working with robots.txt files.

* Tools FAQ

Tools FAQ

What sorts of tools are supported?
During the pilot, no tools are offered. In future releases, a broad variety of optimization resources, learning and training content, community interaction, and partnership information will be available.

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Accounts

* Accounts FAQ

Accounts FAQ

What information can I record in my account?
During the beta, you can record basic contact information, tax information, lists of users, and other account profile data under My settings.

What happens if I delete a user?
All information associated with that user is permanently lost. If you delete a user and want to restore their information, you can still use their email address, but you will need to create a new user and restore the data piece by piece. You must always keep at least one user associated with each account.

What happens if I delete an account?
All information associated with that account is permanently lost, and you will need to go through the application and approval process again if you want to revive that account.

Adjustments

How are adjustments calculated?
Adjustments are calculated automatically by the system. These calculations are verified by account service personnel.

Can adjustments be appealed?
Yes. If you disagree with a credit or debit made against an account of yours, please feel free to contact us.

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Ad Units

* Ad units FAQ

Ad units FAQ

What is an ad unit?
On a web page or other property, an ad unit is a space set aside where ads will appear. Ad units can contain one or more ads; an example would be the banner space across the top of a page.

How are simple and advanced ad units different?
At the most basic level, simple ad units are the quickest and easiest to work with, and advanced ad units let you change the most settings.

Setting up a simple ad unit allows you to generate code and go live with the fewest possible settings adjustments.

You can customize advanced ad units to match your web page's color scheme or to experiment with different contrast and visibility settings. You can also choose from several eye-catching designs that are ready-made within the advanced ad unit settings controls. To use advanced ad units, during ad unit setup, on the Colors and Fonts page, click Advanced under Choose your ad style.

How does server-side ad management work?
Microsoft adCenter Publisher allows you to define many ad unit settings on the server side. Set up style attributes, keywords, and reporting information within adCenter Publisher, and the software keeps track of the data for you. When you update your settings later, you only have to save it once (in adCenter Publisher), instead of having to re-save it on every page where you display ads.

What is ad unit code?
After you finish setting up a property, adCenter Publisher generates a snippet of code for you to use. After adCenter Publisher launches, you'll paste this code on the pages in your web site to receive ads. During the pilot period, internal publishers will enter this http call into the Ad Expert system to receive Content Ads.

How do I use the ad unit code?
You need to add this code to each page where you want ads to appear, in the space where you want the ads to display.

What kind of ad unit can I create?
During the pilot, text ad units are supported.

* About ad formats

About ad formats

An ad format refers to the size and shape of an ad, combined with the media the ad appears in. Ads might be horizontal, vertical, square, or any of a number of other sizes and shapes. It might appear in text, show a still picture, an animated picture, or even feature full-motion video, perhaps with audio.

Microsoft adCenter Publisher currently supports 10 different ad formats. All of these formats are variations on size and shape. The only medium adCenter Publisher currently supports is text ads. In the future adCenter Publisher will examine supporting a broader variety of media.

These are the formats adCenter Publisher supports:

* Horiztonal Leaderboard

* Horizontal Half-Banner

* Horizontal Full-banner

* Vertical Skyscraper

* Vertical Wide Skyscraper

* Vertical Banner

* Square Button

* Medium Rectangle

* Square Pop-up

* Rectangle

* About ad categories

(no content)

* Activate an ad unit

Activate an ad unit

If you deactivate an ad unit, you can always return to it on the Ad units home page and activate it again.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Ad units.

2. In the list, select the box next to any deactivated ad unit, and in the Actions list, click Activate.

3. Click Continue.

* Use templates to create ad units

Use a template to set up an ad unit

Using the pre-defined templates can save you time when setting up your ad unit. Your format settings (fonts, colors, etc.) are already set for you when you use a template.

1. On the Colors and Fonts page, under Select a template to use , click a template in the list.

2. make any adjustments that you need to make and click Continue.

* Set up the code for an ad unit

Set up the code for an ad unit

Setting up the ad unit code is the last step in defining the ad unit itself within adCenter Publisher. adCenter Publisher does the work of generating the code for you. It's up to you to take the code and apply it to the appropriate place within your webpage code.

1. Set up your ad unit's type, display format, colors and fonts, and optional attributes.

2. On the Optional attributes page, click Save and generate code.

3. On the next page, the code will appear in the text field.

4. If you want to adjust the way the ad units look on each page, above the text field, select Include format settings in the code.

5. Click in the field to select the code, and paste it into the source code of the pages where you want ads to appear.

Note
If you choose to include format settings in the code itself, this can create more work if you want to change settings on all your ad units. Including the format settings lets you adjust an ad unit and customize it everywhere it appears; leaving it out allows you to update settings simply through the adCenter Publisher UI. Weighing this flexibility versus convenience decision is the main criterion for choosing to include format settings.

* Set up colors and fonts for an ad unit

Set up colors and fonts for an ad unit

Setting up colors and fonts requires no coding knowledge, though the color values are shown in the UI in code. Follow your changes in the sample displayed on the right to see how your ad unit will look.

1. On the Colors and fonts page, if you want to use a template to set up your ad unit automatically, select it from the Select a template to use list.

2. Within the six different format settings, you can either enter a color value in the # field, or click the color block next to that field and select a color from the chart that appears.

3. Where appropriate, select font face, size, and weight attributes.

4. If you want to use the settings you create for other ad units, under the Sample display, click Save as a new template.

* Set up display options for an ad unit

Set up display options for an ad unit

During the pilot, you can display text ads on your webpages and select from 10 different ad formats.

1. On the Ad display page, enter a name for your ad unit. The name should be one that will help set the ad unit apart in long lists of ad unit names in report charts.

2. Select the ad format you want from the Display your ad unit in this format list.

3. Click Continue.

* Edit an ad unit

Edit an ad unit

You can edit any ad unit at any time.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Ad units.

2. In the list, select the box next to the ad unit you want to edit, and in the Actions list, click Edit.

3. Click Continue.

4. Make any changes you want to the new ad unit.

5. Work through the steps until you find the changes you want to make, and save the changes.

6. Generate the code again, paste it into the pages where your ad unit displays, and re-post the pages.

Important
If you included format settings in your ad unit code that you pasted into your webpages, you may need to adjust the new code once you paste it into the page.

* Duplicate an ad unit

Duplicate an ad unit

Duplicating an ad unit is useful if you want to have similar ad units that you can compare to see how one change affects the ad unit's performance. You can make any changes you want once you have duplicated an ad unit, then assign both ad units to a channel and then, over time, run channel performance reports against that channel.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Ad units.

2. In the list, select the box next to the ad unit you want to duplicate, and in the Actions list, click Duplicate.

3. Click Continue.

4. Make any changes you want to the new ad unit.

Important
It can be useful to give the duplicated ad unit a name very similar to the original, so you can keep track of them in long reports.

* Deactivate an ad unit

Deactivate an ad unit

If you no longer want to display ads within an ad unit, you can deactivate it. You can always return to it on the Ad units home page and activate it again.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Ad units.

2. In the list, select the box next to the ad unit you want to deactivate, and in the Actions list, click Deactivate.

3. Click Continue.

Important
If you deactivate an ad unit, you will need to remove the code for it from the pages where it has been displaying.

* Delete an ad unit

Delete an ad unit

Deleting an ad unit is permanent, but if you wish to manually recreate it later, you may still do so.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Ad units.

2. In the list, select the box next to the ad unit you want to delete, and in the Actions list, click Delete.

3. Click Continue.

Important
If you delete an ad unit, you will need to remove the code for it from the pages where it has been displaying.

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Channels

* About custom channels

About using custom channels

As you track the performance of your ad units, it's fairly likely you'll seek more specific data for the different ad units you're running on different parts of your website. You can use custom channels to do precise comparisons between ad units and improve the performance of the ads on your website. With custom channels, you can compare different parts of your website against one another within a single report, especially if you have different filters and ad unit settings you want to compare side by side.

Before creating custom channels, consider what you want to learn from your reports. Do you need to know how well an ad unit performs when it is formatted differently? How well it performs when it is next to specific content? How different filters affect performance? With any of these differences in mind, you can assign ad units and filters to a given channel and then run a channel performance report against that channel to see how performance is affected in each case.

* Activate a channel

Activate a channel

If you deactivate a channel, you can always return to it on the Channels home page and activate it again.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Channels.

2. In the list, select the box next to any deactivated channel, and in the Actions list, click Activate.

3. Click Continue.

* Edit a channel

Edit a channel

You can edit any channel at any time.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Channels.

2. In the list, select the box next to the channel you want to edit, and in the Actions list, click Edit.

3. Click Continue.

4. Make any changes you want to the channel.

5. Click Save.

* Duplicate a channel

Duplicate a channel

Duplicating a channel is useful if you want to have similar channels that you can compare to see how one change affects the channel's performance. For example, you might want to check and see how applying a filter affects a channel. You can make any changes you want once you have duplicated a channel.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Channels.

2. In the list, select the box next to the channel you want to duplicate, and in the Actions list, click Duplicate.

3. Click Continue.

4. Make any changes you want to the new channel.

5. Click Save.

* Deactivate a channel

Deactivate a channel

If you do not need to use a channel, you can deactivate it. You can always return to it on the Channels home page and activate it again. Deactivating the channel will not deactivate the ad units or filters associated with it. You can still access the filters in reports, as well, provided they're associated with another channel.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Channels.

2. In the list, select the box next to the channel you want to deactivate, and in the Actions list, click Deactivate.

3. Click Continue.

* Delete a channel

Delete a channel

Deleting a channel is permanent, but if you wish to manually recreate it later, you may still do so. Deleting a channel will not delete the ad units or filters associated with it.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Channels.

2. In the list, select the box next to the channel you want to delete, and in the Actions list, click Delete.

3. Click Continue.

* Set up a custom channel

Set up a custom channel

Custom channels allow you to assign any ad units or filters you want to one reporting entity. You can assign ad units and filters from different properties if you wish, and compare performance data for all of them in one report.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Channels.

2. Click the Custom channels tab.

3. Click Create a new custom channel.

4. Enter a name for the channel, and assign the ad units and filters that you want associated with this channel.

5. Click Save.

Important
* If you want to use filters, they must be associated with a channel to take effect.

* Entering keywords in the field at the bottom of the page can help PubCenter find the most relevant ads for your ad units.

* Your ad units and filters must be created before you create your channel. If you want to create more ad units or filters and add them to the channel later, you can.

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Filters

* What Is A Filter?
(integrated from a separate section)

You can specify lists of URLs and keywords for Microsoft adCenter Publisher to block while delivering other ads to your ad units. This list is called a filter. For example, you might want to block competitors' ads.

* What do I need to do to make filters work?
(integrated from a separate section)

Filters need to be associated with channels in order to work. Just creating a filter isn't enough. Once you've created the filter(s), create your channel(s). While you're setting up the channel, associate the desired filter with it. Once you publish your page(s) with channel id code embedded in them, the filter will be active.

* About filters

About blocking content with filters

A filter is a lists of URLS and keywords you want to block--it lists the things you do not want to see on your site.

If your organization has competitors online and you do not want their ads to appear on your site, you can enter their URLs into a filter and apply that filter to a channel. Additionally, you can enter keywords associated with your competitors' products or services to help ensure that their ads will not appear.

You can use keyword or URL lists to block any content, not only for competitive exclusion. For example, you might want to block content that you find frivolous, unprofessional, or personally offensive. Enter any keyword to block ads that bid on that word from appearing on your site.

To put it in greater detail, say for example your business competes against a company called Contoso. Contoso bids widely on a variety of keywords, places a variety of ads, and it's possible these ads could end up displaying on your site. This table explains which Contoso ads will be blocked depending on how Contoso wrote its ads and how you select your keyword match types.

Keyword you block	Match type	Blocked ads	. Unblocked ads
"Contoso gadgets"	Keyword	Ads containing "Contoso gadgets" or "get Contoso gadgets"	Ads containing "Contoso," "gadgets," or "gadgets Contoso"
"Contoso gadgets"	Title	"Get Contoso gadgets!"	"Gadgets from Contoso!"
"Contoso gadgets"	Description	"Get better performance with Contoso gadgets."	"Get better performance with gadgets from Contoso."
"Contoso"	Keyword	"Get Contoso," "Contoso products," etc.	"Recontoso," "Contosoria," etc.
"Contoso"	Title	Buy Contoso gadgets.	Relax with Recontoso.
"Contoso"	Description	Contoso, now more than ever!	Recontoso, now more than ever!

Blocking URLs also offers you some flexibility and extensibility in your entries. When you enter a URL in a filter, ads with that URL as a landing page (the place where users land when they click the ad) will not display. This table gives you some more detail.

URL you enter	. URLs blocked
contoso.com	contoso.com contoso.com/products www.contoso.com www.contoso.com/products gadgets.contoso.com gadgets.contoso.com/products
www.contoso.com	www.contoso.com www.contoso.com/products
gadgets.contoso.com	gadgets.contoso.com/products gadgets.contoso.com/products
gadgets.contoso.com/products	gadgets.contoso.com/products

Note
If you want to block inappropriate content that isn't competitive in nature, keep in mind that Microsoft adCenter Publisher reviews the content of the ads it serves to help prevent inappropriate content. Both automated (software) and manual (human) processes are applied to the ads. This helps prevent generally inappropriate content from appearing on your pages.

* Activate a filter

Activate a filter

If you deactivate a filter, you can always return to it on the Filters home page and activate it again.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Filters.

2. In the list, select the box next to any deactivated filter, and in the Actions list, click Activate.

3. Click Continue.

* Edit a filter

Edit a filter

You can edit any filter at any time. Once you save the changes, your new settings are active and will take effect without your having to make any changes to your website.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Filters.

2. In the list, select the box next to the filter you want to edit, and in the Actions list, click Edit.

3. Click Continue.

4. Make any changes you want to the filter.

5. Click Save.

* Duplicate a filter

Duplicate a filter

Duplicating a filter is useful if you want to compare how one change affects a filter's performance. You can make any changes you want once you have duplicated a filter, then assign both filters to a channel and then, over time, run channel performance reports against that channel.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Filters.

2. In the list, select the box next to the filter you want to duplicate, and in the Actions list, click Duplicate.

3. Click Continue.

4. Make any changes you want to the new filter.

Important
It can be useful to give the duplicated filter a name very similar to the original, so you can keep track of them in long reports.

* Deactivate a filter

Deactivate a filter

If you no longer want to use a filter, you can deactivate it. You can always return to it on the Filters home page and activate it again.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Filters.

2. In the list, select the box next to the filter you want to deactivate, and in the Actions list, click Deactivate.

3. Click Continue.

Note
If you deactivate a filter, the channel(s) associated with it and any ad unit(s) associated with the channel(s) will continue to function.

* Delete a filter

Delete a filter

Deleting a filter is permanent, but if you wish to manually recreate it later, you may still do so.

1. Under the Setup tab at the top of any page, click Filters.

2. In the list, select the box next to the filter you want to delete, and in the Actions list, click Delete.

3. Click Continue.

Note
Deleting a filter will not delete the channel(s) associated with it, nor the ad units associated with the channel(s).

* About properties

About properties

Properties are the different websites you publish. Properties can also be different domains, subdomains, or sections within a website. For example, you might publish and administer a website called Contoso.com. You could set sports.contoso.com and news.contoso.com as separate properties.

Ultimately, how you organize your websites into properties is up to you. If you plan to publish the same ad unit code on every page you publish, then setting up the whole website as one property is the way to go. But if you want to spend more time and effort managing your account, categorizing media into separate properties within your account offers two main advantages:

* Serving different ad units to each property can help better match ads to the content of a webpage.

* Evaluating performance can be easier when different sites are organized into separate entities for reporting.

* Create a property

Create a new property

To add a website to your account so you can display ads on it, you must enter it as a property.

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Properties

* Edit an existing property

Edit a property

You can edit a property at any time.

* Delete a property

Delete a property

You can delete a property at any time. You will not delete any channels, filters, or ad units associated with the property, but if you want to restore the property later, you will have to manually recreate it.

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Reports

* Reports FAQ

Reports FAQ

Which reporting options are best for me?
How you set up your reports is best determined by the information you need to run your business. Keep in mind that most of the settings refer to time periods of activity when your ads displayed. For more information about what each individual option means, see About Reports.

Do reports run automatically?
If you select Schedule this report at the bottom of the Create report page, your reports will run automatically. You choose when the reports run by clicking Daily, Weekly, or Monthly from the Schedule to run list.

How quickly does data appear in new reports?
Starting every business day at 6 a.m., Pacific Time, data will be available for the previous day's ad impressions. The previous day ends at 12 a.m., Pacific Time.

How will I get my report?
During the pilot, you'll view the reports within the Publisher UI. E-mail attachments will be supported in future releases.

* Create a report

Create a report

At any time, you can visit the Reporting Dashboard and run reports. You can then save the report and set it to run and be delivered to you automatically in the future.

1. Click the Reports tab at the top of any page.

2. In the Period list, select the time period you want to use as the basis for the report.

3. Under the Content Quick Reports header, click the type of report you want to run:

* Account performance. This is the most general of the reports, showing performance data for everything associated with the account you've used to log in when you run the report.

* Ad Unit performance. This shows general performance data for all the ad units in an account.

* Channel performance. This shows performance data for all the ad units within a given account, broken down by channel.

* Property performance. This shows performance data for all the ad units within a given account, broken down by property.

Note
You can also click Create report and walk through the steps on the Create New Report page if you want to make specific adjustment.

* Schedule reports

Schedule reports

When you create a report, you can set it to run automatically on the schedule you specify.

1. Click the Reports tab at the top of any page.

2. Click Create Report.

3. On the Create new report page, set up the report as you want it to run.

4. Click Save template.

Disclaimer:
This site and webpage is in no way associated with the Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, WA.
The author is an independant journalist.
All the information above is a composite of info found on public Microsoft webpages.

The author is not perfect - errors can, and do occur.
A link is provided to the official MicroSoft PubCenter web site, so that you can investigate each topic for yourself, and determine when updates occur, which would render this guide page obsolete, until updated.

I made this HELP guide page to fill a gap. This MS Search Engine HELP guide page is -
1. Indexable by search engines
2. Offers a different, sequential format, which I much prefer, without all the jumping navigation
3. Self-contained and complete (contains info from multiple pages, as noted above)
4. Intended to popularize the new Microsoft PubCenter platform. People are hungry for more PubCenter information.

I cannot link directly to the information source at Microsoft, because I use Firefox on a Mac, which does not show an address bar in the HELP window. YOU can go to it by clicking here - https://beta.pubcenter.microsoft.com/ However, if you are using a PC and IE, the HELP window address bar IS present. I have tried to reproduce the URL here, but it is longer than my arm (below). My webpage editor from 1997 can't handle it. Nor would I want it to. It's too long.
.

30

90

140

480-740

https://beta.pubcenter.microsoft.com/help.aspx?project=adcenter_Pub_RTW_&endash;ss&market=en-US&querytype=keyword&query=yek009&tmt=1237334175638&domain=beta.pubcenter.microsoft.com&format=b1

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