Microsoft wants small and mid-sized publishers to use pubCenter to monetize their websites, using display and native ads from the Microsoft Advertising Network.

Not new, or is it? Microsoft pubCenter is not new – it dates back to 2008 and has its own Wikipedia page – so I guess this is technically a relaunch? Or maybe a reboot? Perhaps a reimagining?

Basically, Microsoft today is positioning its 15-year-old Google AdSense alternative as a U.S.-only “pilot program.”

This is also not to be confused with Microsoft Start, its Google News alternative, which also has numerous partnerships with publishers who can earn revenue when their content is read on the Start app.

How it works. Just like AdSense, you pick an ad format, add some code to your website and get paid every time an ad is served on your website. There are “no sign-up costs, revenue minimums, or volume requirements to get started,” Microsoft wrote in its announcement.

What Microsoft is saying. The typical – higher engagement and more revenue. It seems to be promising more revenue than Google AdSense.

• “We offer flexible mediation—simply use our ads in the same units with Google AdSense, and we’ll only serve our ads when we can predict a higher bid for you. You can also place the Microsoft ad code on the same page alongside your other ads.”

U.S. only. It’s now open to all SMBs/publishers in the U.S. Those outside of the U.S. will have to join a waitlist, if/when Microsoft adds international support. You can sign up here.

First spotted in May? In Microsoft pubCenter, Google AdSense Alternative, Looking To Expand? on May 18 Barry Schwartz reported on a Microsoft Advertising console pop-up that seemed to indicate something was happening with pubCenter. He also provided a walk-through for configuring the next/latest version of pubCenter.