Ashes To Ashes, Dust To Dust, Two NZ Portals Arise, In Business We Trust

Ashes To Ashes, Dust To Dust, Two NZ Portals Arise, In Business We Trust

By Martin Kelly, Editor, Search Engine Room

AN “amicable divorce” in New Zealand has seen two new digital media and search portals emerging from the ashes of previous market leader, XtraMSN. Most of the hype has surrounded the Yahoo!Xtra partnership, while the launch of MSN NZ on the same day was low-key affair.

No doubt that’s because Xtra initiated the breakup with MSN to take up with Yahoo!, which now has a dedicated NZ platform for the first time. One implication of this new alliance for Australian search marketers is that they can choose whether or not to appear in the New Zealand market.

As for the “amicable divorce” – a line coined by Heith Mackay-Cruise from ACP – that’s now out of the way and MSN NZ has emerged essentially as a cookie cutter of ninemsn, albeit without the same depth of content or polished feel.

“The objective of MSN NZ is to leverage the expertise and success of ninemsn in Australia to create a local business which delivers New Zealand specific content (primarily from ACP Media),” he said.

“We have one million Hotmail & 300,000 Messenger users here in NZ who will now have a great new site to go and we are working hard to ensure a smooth transition.”

The companies backing MSN NZ are Microsoft, ACP Media New Zealand and ninemsn. When appointed, the MSN NZ General Manager will report to ninemsn in Australia.

Search Engine Room
March 5, 2007

 

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