MSN surfaces video across MSN.com, Bing, Windows, and the Microsoft Edge new tab — properties that reach billions of people monthly. For publishers and content creators, it's one of the highest-reach distribution channels available. The challenge is staying on it consistently: MSN ingests content through a structured MRSS feed, and keeping that feed accurate and up-to-date as your library grows requires ongoing maintenance.
VideoNest handles that maintenance automatically. Here's how the distribution workflow operates.
The manual approach vs. VideoNest
| Task | Manually | With VideoNest |
|---|---|---|
| Build MRSS feed | Build and host XML file yourself | Generated automatically |
| Add new videos | Update XML, re-host, notify MSN | Feed updates on publish |
| Metadata formatting | Manual, error-prone | Auto-enriched and validated |
| Multi-market distribution | Separate feeds per market | Handled in one library |
| Feed hosting | Your infrastructure | Hosted and maintained by VideoNest |
How VideoNest connects to MSN
VideoNest is an approved MSN Partner, with direct integration into Microsoft's Partner Hub program. That means your content doesn't need to go through a manual submission queue each time — once your feed is approved and connected, MSN ingests new content automatically on its own schedule.
VideoNest generates an MSN-compliant MRSS feed from your library and keeps it current. Every video you publish, edit, or remove is reflected in the feed without any action on your part. For implementation details, see the MSN feed setup docs.
Setting up MSN distribution
-
Build your VideoNest library
Upload your videos and complete your metadata — titles, descriptions, thumbnails, categories. The richer your metadata, the better MSN's placement algorithm treats your content. -
Enable MSN distribution
In your channel distribution settings, activate MSN. VideoNest generates your MSN-compliant MRSS feed URL. -
Connect through the VideoNest MSN program
VideoNest's partnership team handles the MSN Partner Hub connection on your behalf, verifying feed compliance and completing the approval process. -
Go live
Once approved, your content starts appearing across MSN properties. New videos you publish enter the feed automatically — no re-submissions, no manual updates.
What the ongoing workflow looks like
After setup, your MSN distribution runs on autopilot:
- Upload a video to VideoNest → it appears in your MSN feed within the next ingest cycle
- Edit a title or swap a thumbnail → the feed reflects the change automatically
- Remove a video → it's dropped from the feed immediately
- Set an availability window → content appears and expires on schedule without manual intervention
For publishers producing multiple videos a day, this eliminates what would otherwise be a significant operational overhead. VideoNest handles feed optimization, metadata enrichment, and multi-market distribution so your team can focus on producing content rather than managing distribution pipelines.
Pair it with Make or Zapier
Want a notification every time a video goes live on MSN? Connect VideoNest to Make or Zapier and build a workflow that fires when a video publishes — posting a Slack alert, logging to a spreadsheet, or triggering a downstream action in your CMS. The distribution is automatic; the visibility into what's running is up to you.
MSN distribution is available on VideoNest Business and Enterprise plans. See plan details →