News

Microsoft unveils new default homepage for its Australian products with new MSN offering

MSN

New MSN homepage

Microsoft has relaunched its flagship portal MSN globally, with the company preparing for the separation of its Australian MSN and Ninemsn websites.

The new MSN website (which can be seen in preview here) will be a separate entity to Ninemsn and rely entirely on third parties for content, with the official launch due in the coming months.

From launch it will be the default homepage and log out page for Australians using Microsoft products including Windows 8, Internet Explorer, Skype and Outlook, a change is expected to dramatically impact the current traffic going to Ninemsn which had been at around third in the Nielsen Online Ratings. 

“Built from the ground up, the new MSN combines comprehensive content from the world’s leading media outlets, including Ninemsn, with powerful tools that help people get more done regardless of the device they choose,” said Tony Wilkinson, head of Australia and New Zealand for Microsoft Advertising.

“We’re excited to continue our relationship with Nine Entertainment Co and Mi9, and continue to inspire people to discover new things about themselves and the world around them.”

The new MSN is claiming a “global first” with a vertical and a horizontal scroll and will have ten sections including sports, news, health and fitness, money, travel and video. MSN’s editors will curate content from what is says are over 1,000 sources for Australian audiences.

Nine Entertainment said it would still sell advertising on the MSN website and that there would be no changes to the Ninemsn editorial operation.

Peter Wiltshire, group sales director for Nine, said: “We welcome the new MSN to our stable of brands. NEC creates solutions that tell stories effortlessly across all screens, and the new MSN is an ideal environment to continue this seamless storytelling across devices, alongside our existing superbrands of Ninemsn and the Daily Mail Australia.”

Nine Entertainment’s digital division Mi9 represents all of Microsoft’s services in the Australian market including MSN, Xbox, Skype, Bing Ads, Windows 8 and Outlook.com.

The relaunch of MSN in Australia comes after Nine bought out Microsoft from Ninemsn and the rest of  joint Mi9 venture last year. In the wake of the change and the expected drop off in traffic Mi9 launched a joint venture with the UK’s Daily Mail to launch an Australian editorial operation which is now fifth-ranked news site.

Nic Christensen

ADVERTISEMENT

Get the latest media and marketing industry news (and views) direct to your inbox.

Sign up to the free Mumbrella newsletter now.

 

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up to our free daily update to get the latest in media and marketing.