Last weekend, Microsoft launched the Fall upgrade to the AdCenter advertising platform.

According to Carolyn Miller in the release post, “we upgraded the adCenter interface and added new features to help make managing your adCenter campaigns easier.”

The key improvements are summed up below:

• Campaign Management: ability to pause and resume ads and keywords, geo-targeting enhancements, and improved performance reporting on the Ads page
• Editorial Improvements: faster reviews, dynamic feedback about why ads and keywords were disapproved, and inline notification when dynamic text causes your ads to exceed character limits
• User Management: if previously you were only able to have one user, now you can create multiple account users
• Content Ads (U.S. only): get keyword bid suggestions and performance estimates for your content ads

If you want to stay on top of the new changes and enhancements that Microsoft implement on the AdCenter platform, they introduced a “New Features” and “what’s new” section to the interface.

Even with the upgrade, the AdCenter platform still lacks some of the functionality of key competitors Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Advertising.

It seems Microsoft are trying to position themselves as the ad network that listens to its users, to help bridge the functionality gap. According to the release:

“Several of these features were requested right here in the community, so we want to thank you for your feedback. Your feedback helps us shape adCenter into an ad platform that helps you remain competitive, productive and efficient. So keep your feedback and suggestions coming!”

Platform deficiencies aside, the Microsoft enhancements are welcomed nonetheless. Competition for the likes of Google in the search advertising space is good for everyone.