It is no secret that more and more companies, businesses and Web sites are moving towards content syndication in one way or another. If they are not providing the feeds themselves, then they are giving you a way to read the feeds. So what is it that MSN has up the old proverbial sleave for the future?

Right now the My MSN page is trying to play catch up with My Yahoo page. Giving folks content they want to read instead of customizable boxes filled with crap is the way to go. Other than that though, what else is really in store?

Vowing to make RSS friendly to the everyday Web user, an MSN executive demonstrated upcoming services on Wednesday that build syndication feeds into the messaging alerts, a Windows screen saver and Web search.

During a keynote at the Syndicate Conference here, MSN Director Phil Holden said that Microsoft Corp’s Internet division is taking RSS (Really Simple Syndication) seriously and will integrate the technology across even more of MSN’s online services throughout the year. ADVERTISEMENT

“Our goal is in making consumer adoption and consumption of RSS easier,” Holden said during an interview. “We will literally put RSS and syndication in many, many places.”

MSN already had begun taking steps into RSS in recent months, joining chief portal rival Yahoo Inc. in integrating syndication technology into online services. In January, My MSN began aggregating feeds on personalized home pages, and MSN in March began quietly testing a Web-based RSS aggregator.

But more syndication moves are on MSN’s horizon, and even MSN’s acquisition last week of MessageCast Inc. will play a role.

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