As a benefit to the millions of Windows users
accessing the Windows
Marketplace the site recently announced the availability of
RSS (web
news
feeds) as an ideal way for users to stay updated about new product
releases, updates, and the latest technology and product announcements from
leading Windows Community sites. With more users becoming aware of RSS
through blogging, RSS is rapidly becoming the method of choice for
receiving news.
Windows Marketplace RSS
feeds can easily be added to a user's home page portal on MyMSN, Live.com,
MyYahoo, other favorite RSS aggregators or news readers, and is also
supported in many browsers. You can download one of two free preferred news
readers (Active Web Reader or Pluck) which come pre-configured with all 19
Windows Marketplace RSS feeds, allowing users to immediately stay informed
about new product offerings from hundreds of companies and over 103,000
products. Or, you can add them to your favorite news reader.
Over 97% of the products listed on the Windows Marketplace hail from
leading software and hardware vendors, other than Microsoft, whose products
make the Windows ecosystem such a rich environment for Windows users.
Microsoft chose to work with an independent third party provider, the
Windows Users Group Network (WUGNET) to create a private RSS portal so
vendors could get their products listed and broadcasted through the RSS
news feeds.
"We chose WUGNET as our partner to provide the Windows Marketplace RSS
channels because of their 18 year commitment to the Windows community,
their product knowledge, and their relationship with the independent
software publishing and hardware vendor communities, as well as its own
history of creating and publishing community content for third parties,"
said Jed Rose, Windows Client Product Manager. "We want to offer an
opportunity for third party software and hardware party vendors to
communicate directly with our customers and help them rate, review and
choose to buy Windows products that are best of breed. It's a win-win
situation for everyone."
There are new product RSS feeds covering 19 product categories, including
IE add-ons which number over 2000 products.
While RSS is already an established technology, the growing popularity of
blogs has catapulted RSS into the spotlight as a content personalization
tool, according to Nielsen NetRatings's RSS study. Furthermore, RSS feeds
deliver relevant posts quickly, in a customizable, easy to manage format.
These types of services provide marketers an additional avenue from which
to tap a captive audience for time-critical offers. Since the customers
themselves pick the content they will receive, advertisers are able to
deliver their message within a context they know will engage their target
audience.
"The Windows Marketplace helps us get out new product news to the Windows
community, courtesy of Microsoft, through the latest technology of RSS,"
said Colleen Toumayan, Director of Public Relations for Diskeeper
Corporation.
"I appreciate the added exposure the network provides to software
developers. It's a great venue to communicate with an audience who has a
specific interest," said Sharon Housley, Marketing Manager for Notepage,
Inc.
Vendors of Windows products can sign up free and submit
their product news if they are currently listed on the Windows Marketplace.
Vendors who are not yet listed can find out how to get listed on the sign up page .
"With the introduction of these new Windows Marketplace Feeds, average
users will find it easy to stay up-to-date with Windows. Better yet,
there's no middle man to go through; all the hardware and software update
information comes directly from Microsoft. That's a true win-win
situation," said Chris Pirillo, President of Lockergnome.com, a digital
technology magazine.
End-users who desire, can add the feeds to their existing news clients or
download free RSS news clients preloaded with the Windows Marketplace News
Feeds . Windows hardware and software vendors can also sign up on this
page.
About WUGNET
Author: Array
Previous article: 16 September 2006
|
Home
