Note   To prepare for the launch of the new version of Office – and the updated version of the Office Web site – Marketplace listing updates are suspended from September 25th until spring 2010 (exact date TBD). If you have any questions, please e-mail us at omp1033@microsoft.com.

It is important to read and complete the following steps before filling out the online application. Please note that Microsoft reserves the right to accept or reject, in its sole discretion, any application for a listing on the Office Marketplace and may change the requirements for a listing at any time. In addition to the considerations listed below, Microsoft will also evaluate the overall fit of your product or service to Microsoft's own business strategy to determine the appropriateness of your listing on the Office Marketplace site. Here are the steps:

1. Assess your fit
2. Create your jump page and prepare your listing details
3. Submit your application

Frequently Asked Questions

Assess your fit

Your product or service must meet ALL of the following criteria:

1. Is it consistent with Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing Principles?
   • Privacy  Customers' personal information isn't disclosed in unauthorized ways. When they provide personal information to your site or service, they are clearly informed of what will and will not be done with it, and they can be sure that you will do what you promise.
   • Security  Customers can be assured that a virus will not infect and crash their computers. An intruder cannot render their systems unusable or make unauthorized alterations to their data.
   • Reliability  When customers install new software, they don't have to worry about whether it will work properly with their existing applications.
   • Business Integrity  You respond rapidly and effectively when customers report a problem.
2. Is it relevant to Office customers? Your product or service should help customers improve their business productivity using Microsoft Office tools, and it must meet AT LEAST ONE of the following requirements:
   • Requires a Microsoft Office program to run: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel®, Microsoft Outlook®, Microsoft Access, Microsoft PowerPoint®, Microsoft FrontPage®, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Visio®, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft OneNote®, Microsoft InfoPath®, Microsoft Office Live Meeting, Microsoft Office Live Communications Server, and/or Microsoft SharePoint™ Portal Server.
   • Offers hardware that works with Office programs.
   • Provides training or support resources related to Microsoft Office.
   • Provides consulting services that are specialized in Microsoft Office.
3. Can it be fulfilled or delivered online to any customer in the U.S.? Your business should offer a Web site through which Office customers can receive your product and/or service. Additionally, your site must provide contact information (physical location and phone number).
4. Is customer support available? Your company must provide customer service (online or over the phone) and easy-to-use help content.
5. Does it work with the latest version of Office? Your product or service must work with the latest version of Office within six months of the release of that version.
6. Is this product fully tested and reliable? Your service or product must provide an excellent customer experience. Also, the Web site where the product or service can be purchased and where customer support can be accessed must perform with 99% uptime.
7. Are your product title(s), domain name, and company name in compliance with Microsoft trademarks?  Your application must meet the guidelines for proper referential use of the Microsoft Office System trademarks and names. Review the Microsoft Office System Referential Use Guidelines before you apply.
8. Is this product or service intended for use by individuals or small businesses?Your product or service should be downloadable and installable without requiring integration with back-end systems, or customized implementation. If your product or service is sold primarily to enterprises rather than individuals, please visit the Microsoft Office Systems Solutions Directory to list your service.

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Create your jump page and prepare listing details

Almost there! Before you submit a new listing request, you must first prepare the following information.

 Important   Your compliance with these guidelines will allow us to review and process your application faster.

Create a jump page

You must create a unique Web page that the Office Marketplace's provider directory can send customers to when they click your company's listing from within the directory. This Web page must be hosted on your servers.

Your jump page must meet all of the following requirements:

1. Works with Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.0 or later.
2. Lists the product or service name prominently.
3. Clearly indicates customer support contact information.
4. Clearly indicates the pricing of the product or service.
5. Provides clear instructions on using the service.
6. Designed so that the Back button of the customer's Web browser leads the customer back to the Office Marketplace. Redirects must not prevent this functionality.
7. Highlights the integration of your product or service with Microsoft Office.
8. Presents proper referential use of the Microsoft Office System trademarks and names. Review the Microsoft Office System Referential Use Guidelines to verify your jump page.
9. Features the Office Marketplace logo on the top of the page (must be visible without scrolling in 800x600 screen resolution). Placement and use of the logo must meet the specifications for the use of the logo.

Include the following to display the Office Marketplace image:

<HTML>
<BODY><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/marketplace">
<IMG src="http://r.office.microsoft.com/r/rlidMarketplaceLogo" 
alt="Microsoft Office Marketplace logo"></a></BODY>
</HTML>

Implementation of this code in a manner not compliant with the above instructions will prevent you from submitting your application.

10. Include the following notice at the bottom of your jump page containing the Logo: "Microsoft and the Office logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries."

    Below are two examples of a jump page designed for a fictitious company and service. Please look carefully at the examples and use them as a reference for creating your own jump page.

    

     Important   If your application for the Office Marketplace is not approved, you will need to remove the logo from the jump page.

Write a product or service title

Your title is the name of your product or service as it will appear in the Office Marketplace directory. If the name is very long, consider shortening it to a briefer but still accurate title (th character limit for the Office Marketplace title field is 30 characters, including spaces). You will have room in the long description to list the full product or service name.

Write a short description

The short description of your product or service appears with your title on category and search pages. Follow these guidelines:

• Keep it brief. The title and short description combined cannot add up to more than 50 characters, including spaces.
• Do not include your company name (it will be listed below the title).
• Clearly explain the value proposition of the product or service.
• Be factual rather than "sales-oriented." Use nouns and action-oriented verbs. Avoid adjectives and subjective comparisons, which give listings an overt sales tone. (Our experience on the current Office Web site is that factual service descriptions receive more customer visits than overtly sales-oriented descriptions.)
• Use sentence capitalization. (In other words, capitalize only the first word and proper nouns.)

Examples of good title and short description combinations:

Adventure Works Graphics Add-in for PowerPoint presentations
Send mail right from your desk with Contoso Online Postage

Write a long description

The long description appears on the page customers see when they click your short description to learn more. Follow these guidelines:

• Keep the long description to 500 characters or fewer.
• Make it descriptive and compelling, but use factual rather than overtly sales-oriented words and language. Clearly explain the value proposition of the product and how the product integrates with Microsoft Office. Use nouns and quantifiable facts about your product or service, and avoid adjectives and subjective comparisons, which give listings an overt sales tone. (again, factual service descriptions receive more customer clicks than sales-oriented descriptions.)
• Mention your company name and the full name of the product or service.
• Be sure to include in your short and long descriptions keywords that customers are likely to use in their search queries. The search initiated from anywhere on Office Online or from within any Office program queries all text in your title, short description, and long description.

Example of a good long description:

Contoso Online Postage service lets you generate postage for your paper mail and packages right from your Microsoft Office program. Send anything from a postcard to a large package, and specify the delivery rate and prices you want directly from the Office menus. Sending mail with Contoso online postage works the same as sending it through the postal service, except that you don't need to leave your office to send it.

Identify the right category for your service or product
The Office Marketplace has the following categories:

• Create top notch docs Find templates, fonts, images, sounds, animations, and other add-ins to enhance documents created in Office programs.
• Fax, print, mail Find internet faxing services, remote printing options, e-postage and address verification products.
• Research your world Research business news, profile corporations, legal and healthcare issues, and find translation services.
• Manage data and documents Enhance the security of your documents, use digital certificates, and get help with document and business process automation.
• Advance with Office Find tools and resources to help deploy Office, as well as assistance for developers building on the Office System platforms.
• Optimize Outlook Manage your Inbox, find messaging and contact management tools, and prevent spam.
• Make Excel work for you Find tools and plug-ins that extend the value of Excel such as forecasting and other financial analysis tools.
• Get a professional edge Publish content to the Web, enhance presentations and project schedules, secure your documents and data.
• Find training and resources Find third-party courses on using Office applications, live support for Office issues, Office consultants, and trainers.

Please identify the right category for your service or product. If you do not see a category that exactly fits your listing, please pick the closest one. You will be asked for this information in your application. Please e-mail us at omp1033@microsoft.com if you believe we should include an additional category.

You will need all the information requested in Step 2 to complete your application.

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Apply for a listing

Congratulations! You are ready to submit your online application for a listing.

 Note   To apply you will need a free Microsoft .NET Passport. .NET Passport is an online service that makes it possible for you to use your e-mail address and a single password to sign in to any .NET Passport-participating Web site or service. The Office Marketplace uses .NET Passport technology to allow companies to apply for or manage their listings. Get more information about .NET Passport.

Once your listing has been reviewed, you will receive an e-mail either accepting or not accepting the listing. You should receive a response from us within approximately ten working days from when you submit an online application. If your listing is approved, it will appear on the Office Marketplace within approximately ten business days after the approval.

If you have any questions, please e-mail us at omp1033@microsoft.com and we will respond to your query within a few business days.

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SPECIFICATIONS FOR USE OF THE FIND US @ MICROSOFT® OFFICE MARKETPLACE LOGO

1. You may not promote the URL of your jump page displaying the Logo until your application is approved. If your application is not approved or if your listing is removed for any reason, you must remove the Logo from the jump page. You may promote the URL of your jump page displaying the Logo after you have received e-mail from Microsoft with confirmation that your application has been approved and your listing is on the Microsoft Office Marketplace Web page.
2. You may only display the Logo on your jump page. You may not use the logo on any other material, or for any purpose other then a link back to the Microsoft Office Marketplace Web site. The Logo must always be an active link to http://office.microsoft.com/marketplace, and may not link to any other Web page unless specified by Microsoft.
3. Your Web page title and other trademarks and logos must appear at least as prominent as the Logo. You may not display the Logo in any manner that implies affiliation with, sponsorship, endorsement, or license by Microsoft other then as a listing on the Microsoft Office Marketplace Web page.
4. The Logo may not be included within any non-Microsoft trade name, business name, domain name, product or service name, logo, trade dress, design, slogan, or other trademark.
5. The Logo must appear by itself, with a minimum spacing (the height of the Logo) between each side of the Logo and other graphic or textual elements on your page. The Logo may not be used as a feature or design element of any other logo. The Logo must be visible in an 800 x 600 screen resolution.
6. You may not alter the Logo in any manner, including size, proportions, colors, wording, design elements, etc., or animate, morph or otherwise distort its perspective or appearance.
7. You may not display the Logo on any site that disparages Microsoft or its products or services, infringes any Microsoft intellectual property or other rights, or violates any state, federal or international law.
8. Microsoft reserves the right to take action against any use that does not conform to these specifications, infringes any Microsoft intellectual property or other right, or violates other applicable law.
9. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES THAT MAY BE EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED BY LAW REGARDING THE LOGO, INCLUDING WARRANTIES AGAINST INFRINGEMENT.
10. You must include the following notice at the bottom of your jump page containing the Logo: "Microsoft and the Office logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries." The trademark notice must be included as text on the jump page and not as an image element.

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