MSN was reportedly taking a page from Yahoo's book in tracking clicks on links within its result pages.
Search Engine Journal noted that MSN Search was tracking clicks, via observation of the destination URL when doing a mouseover of a link. But MSN appears to have withdrawn that test now.
A search on topics like Hurricane Katrina returned the usual search engine results, along with a search on "games" as SEJ's Loren Baker made. The results showed the typical list of links, and the anchors seem to be just the normal URLs one expects to find.
Yahoo has been doing this for some time. A mouseover of a Yahoo link from a result page shows a lengthy URL that begins with http://rds.yahoo.com followed by a lengthy string of characters. This apparently feeds Yahoo's behavioral marketing research.
For MSN, the test looks like it has ended. With MSN ramping up its ad services and actively advertising for ad-related managers, the rollout of its in-house ad network will mean users will probably see those tracking links again in the future.
David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.
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