Microsoft coming in ad network

In an attempt to catch-up with rivals including Google and Yahoo, Microsoft has started testing online ads on Live - its new web services network.

Microsoft plans to display ads from around 20 advertisers as part of a year-long trial program, on its network comprising Office Live, email service Windows Live Mail and social networking service MSN Spaces.

Although Microsoft attracts a huge online traffic, the company has lagged behind its rivals in terms of generating ad revenue. Microsoft is hopeful that its Live.com portal will be useful in eventually creating an advertising network.

In a separate announcement, Microsoft has launched the beta version of its Windows Live Family Safety Settings service.

"Family Safety Settings" provides several free tools to work with Windows Live and other Microsoft applications, to offer enhanced safety in PC- and Web-based activities.

The new service incorporates features such as content filtering for the Web, contact management tools for e-communications, online activity reports, etc.

The content filtering feature lets users apply settings like "allow" or "block" to different Web sites or content categories. Contact Management is applicable to Microsoft online communications services, and enables parents to create lists which either allow or restrict children from accessing specific sites. The Online Activity Reports feature makes it possible for parents to access information about what their family members are doing online.

The new service is slated to become available this summer, and will be offered to customers using Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista. Microsoft says that it prefers calling its new product Family Safety Settings rather than Parental Controls, since neither parents nor children are too fond of that particular term.

Apparently as Microsoft does not consider itself an expert in child psychology, the company has teamed up with third party experts such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which was responsible for creating the recommended default settings of the new service. Tie-ups with similar such organizations are in the pipeline.

Microsoft maintains that its aim is to be less intrusive, and to make Family Safety Settings something which will go down well with both parents and kids.