Jan. 24, 2007

A few weeks ago, I wrote briefly about factors in MSN editors' news judgment, which dovetails with this week's discussion about the variety of content and the speed with which a topic or story comes off and on or moves around the MSN homepage.

Of nearly 27,300 responses, 55 percent said MSN covers too many topics -- a number that surprised us a bit. Then 31 percent said MSN's blend is perfect, and 14 percent say we repeat topics or stories too often.

First, it’s humbling that about a third of you are very satisfied with the mix, because we are our own harshest critics, wanting to do better every day. It's also a bit surprising to see the majority of users think we cover too many topics, when many users have requested more updates and less repetition.

Programming the homepage is an incessant alchemy of user interest, editor expertise, data, user feedback, economics and -- for lack of a better analogy -- curveballs from the world of news. That part of covering news and content is a big reason many of us love it. And why it drives us a bit crazy in our quest to improve for you.

In recent months, we’ve noticed some users writing in to say they are discouraged at seeing the same or similar stories. Two messages received last week were typical of these comments:

"A very frustrating thing about MSN, when it does update, is topics are used in the same format and with the same pictures as were used weeks or months before," writes Michael, of Sammamish, Wash. "I don't like to log on and rehash the same stuff I've seen in the past. This world has enough going on in it to update with new articles, pictures, fresh writing, and so on. Even if the same topic is discussed, use a fresh format to present it. It's like getting a newspaper weeks old and re-reading it. I'd just throw it away."

Katherina, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, says, "The discussion about refreshing content doesn't address what I think is a larger issue. While I feel you change your homepage content enough throughout any given day, I'm getting tired of reading the same articles. I know that you're always attracting new readers, and that people may miss a story, but I use MSN as my homepage and I find the recycling of articles very obvious -- and boring. Interested in new content? I'd be happy to come up with some pitches."

Homepage Daily Editor Dave Herman stresses that repeated stories are the exception rather than the norm, and that the homepage team is on the lookout for topic weariness as well.

"MSN does sometimes repeat stories and topics, often because of their popularity with users," Herman said. "Not everyone visits our page often enough to catch every story. But we also hear some concerns about too many repeats of stories and topics. So we’re doing our best to strike the right balance."

Those efforts include improved tracking of which stories and topics have run on the homepage.

"For example, you shouldn’t be seeing any stories on the topic of 'myths of pregnancy' for a while," Herman said. “This is always a popular topic and, we hope, a service to our users. I certainly wouldn’t say we’d never run stories on pregnancy myths again. But we ran stories on this topic several times a while back, and we probably overdid it."

Here's how it works at MSN. Editors of the various sections (channels like health, dating, movies, sports, etc.) recommend articles for the homepage. Each January, for instance, we see -- as you'd expect -- stories on losing weight and saving money. So some topics are seasonal.

Monica, a user from San Juan, P.R., wrote that she is ravenous for MSN Money articles, praising them as being "right on point." She adds, however, that "they do not get updated often enough. I have read and re-read the same articles over and over again about paying off debt, etc. I think you should update those articles every week."

It might be hard to rewrite articles such as these every week, as certain types of financial advice don’t change that often and most financial advisers might offer similar suggestions. But we do work to offer perspectives from various content partners.

Also last week, a few readers wrote to say a story about alternative green homes disappeared off the homepage too fast.

Wrote C.G., of the Bahamas: "I find it difficult to find an article once it has left the homepage. Sometimes they are gone before I get the chance to read it. The Help section says to try using the Search bar. But this searches the Web, which sends back too many articles. MSN needs a search that can find an article one day ago, three days, two weeks or one month, which would simplify searching for articles. I don't mean news stories, just articles on different subjects. An article today appeared on solar power, and by the time I returned to read it, it was gone. I tried to find it but to no avail using the search bar and every way I could think of."

C.G. should be able to find what he wants easily. The search experience is one we're constantly working on and we’re also exploring other ways to archive our content.

Perhaps you've noticed changes in the Popular Searches box on the lower left of the homepage. We recently added a photo to that area, and the terms listed for people and hot topics go to pages that have tabbed search results to the Web and to MSN content.

Take a look and weigh in. As always, we look forward to your input on our editing alchemy and the tools we bring to improve your online experience. And one recent one is MsDewey.com, a new method of searching for video developed by Microsoft.