How do I get on MSN?
There is a version of this question that assumes there is a form somewhere, and finding it is the hard part. The form exists. Getting to a state where Microsoft lets you fill it in is the part worth understanding before you spend a weekend on it.
You can’t apply. MSN Partner Hub is invitation-only, and it ingests articles from a site you own, not uploads from a channel. Build the publication first, because the feed is what Microsoft ingests.
The answer, in Microsoft’s own words
Publishers supply content to MSN through something called MSN Partner Hub, and the setup page for it is unusually direct about the first hurdle.
“MSN Partner Hub is invitation-only. To sign up as an MSN Partner, you will need the unique Invite code that was emailed to you by Microsoft.”
So there is no open application. You cannot queue, and you cannot buy your way to the front. Microsoft decides who gets emailed a code, and the sign-up form is the step after that decision rather than the step that triggers it.
Older guides still link to the Microsoft Start publisher portal and Bing PubHub. The documentation quoted above covers MSN Partner Hub only, so be wary of any guide that sends you to the old URLs, and check its publication year before following anything else in it.
The requirement that reframes the whole question
Look at what Microsoft asks you to have ready before you set an account up, and one item changes what this opportunity actually is.
- a Microsoft account
- a profile name, 100 characters maximum
- a profile description, 280 plaintext words maximum
- a profile picture, JPG, JPEG or PNG, at least 448 by 448 pixels
- payment account details, for revenue deposits
- a content feed: WordPress, ATOM or RSS
That last line is the one. MSN ingests a feed from a site you own. This is a syndication relationship with a publisher, and the unit of syndication is an article. There is no upload path here in the sense a video creator means it, and a channel on its own gives Microsoft nothing to ingest.
Video does travel, and it travels embedded inside your articles. Microsoft’s publishing guidelines require partners to ensure that “embedded video and images within their content meet our standards and that they have copyright permission to use the media”. So the realistic shape of getting your video onto MSN is a site of your own, publishing written pieces at a steady clip, with your video inside them.
For most creators reading this, that changes the job. The prerequisite is a functioning publication, and that is real work that has nothing to do with Microsoft.
What it pays
Microsoft shares advertising revenue with accepted partners, which is why the setup checklist asks for payment details. The percentage is not published on the pages that describe how to join, and the partner agreement is not public, so anyone quoting you a specific MSN revenue share or a per-click figure is working from their own deal or from somebody’s estimate.
Beyond that, little is public. Until Microsoft states terms in writing, treat the revenue as unknown, and weigh the cost of running a publication against a share you have not seen.
What gets you removed once you are in
The publishing guidelines are worth reading before you want them to be relevant. Microsoft reviews content with “both automation and humans”, and the prohibitions are specific.
- sexually explicit content, and hate speech
- “hoaxes, false information, propaganda, and deliberate misinformation”
- clickbait, named as shocking topics and sensationalist headlines that exaggerate
- posts that contain only links
- medical advice not reviewed by a licensed medical professional
- “aggregated content scraped from other sites without full written permission”
Two of these catch out people who meant no harm. Content created by somebody not directly affiliated with the partner needs Microsoft’s approval, which matters the moment you take a guest post or commission a freelancer. And content created by one brand should not be duplicated across several, which is a problem if you run more than one site off the same material.
The consequences escalate from content removal to having auto-publishing switched off, and Microsoft states that repeat copyright infringement “will result in termination of your license agreement”. Uncleared music inside an embedded video is an easy way to run into it.
About the people selling invite codes
Search this topic and you will meet sites offering to get you an MSN Partner Hub invite code. Hold that against the sentence Microsoft published: the code is emailed by Microsoft to people Microsoft has chosen. It is not a product, and it has no price.
There is a legitimate arrangement nearby, and confusing the two is where money gets lost. Some media companies are already MSN partners and will syndicate your work under their own licence and their own brand, splitting what it earns. That can be a perfectly reasonable deal. It is a different thing from becoming a partner yourself, and it leaves the relationship with Microsoft belonging to them. Ask which one you are being sold, in writing, before any money moves.
What to do instead, if the answer is not yet
The honest read for most channels is that MSN comes after something you have not built. Microsoft does not say how it chooses who receives a code, so no amount of preparation guarantees one. What a site you own does give you is something to syndicate and something to fall back on: consistent publishing, clear authorship and dates, and video embedded in pieces that would be worth reading without it.
Build that and syndication is one option among several. Skip it and there is nothing for a code to switch on.
Common questions
Can I apply to become an MSN partner?
Not through an open application. Microsoft's setup documentation states that MSN Partner Hub is invitation-only and that you need a unique invite code emailed to you by Microsoft. The sign-up form comes after that decision rather than before it.
Can I put my videos on MSN directly?
There is no direct video upload route. MSN ingests a WordPress, ATOM or RSS feed from a site you own, so the unit is an article. Video reaches MSN embedded inside those articles, and you must hold copyright permission for anything embedded.
How much does MSN pay publishers?
Microsoft shares advertising revenue with accepted partners but does not publish the percentage on its join pages, and partner agreements are not public. Any specific figure you see quoted comes from somebody's private deal or from an estimate.
Should I buy an MSN Partner Hub invite code?
No. Microsoft emails invite codes to publishers it selects, so a code is not something anyone can legitimately sell you. A media company offering to syndicate your work under its own existing licence is a different and sometimes reasonable arrangement, but it does not make you an MSN partner.
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