WebProNews

We're betting that the users of Edgar Online, which is a financial information site, weren't dying to receive ads from Microsoft.  But advertisers are probably pleased with the arrangement, and in another aspect of the deal that should benefit consumers, users of MSN Money will receive content from Edgar.

SEC filing documents are at the top of this content list, and they "will be accessible via the ticker and company search function," according to an official statement.  "EDGAR Online content will cover all public companies that file information with the SEC and provide access to the complete database of millions of company, fund and individual filers to facilitate company and financial research at summary and in-depth levels," it promises.

Impressed?  The people behind MSN Money are surely hoping so.  Just six days ago, a comScore report placed Microsoft's financial site third behind those owned by AOL and Yahoo.  It also demonstrated that the number of unique visitors had dropped between November and December.  Not good.

So we'll see if the partnership with Edgar creates any changes in that sense.  Meanwhile, Mike Shields writes, "MSN will now become the exclusive seller of text, banner and eventually video ads on Edgar's own Web site - which, according to officials, reaches 2 million unique user[s] per month."

Both parts of the deal are expected to take effect later this year.