By Emma Barnett, Technology and Digital Media Correspondent Published: 4:26PM BST 28 Jul 2009  Hyper-local news is increasingly valuable to digital companies, as it facilitates super targeted adverts.  The move comes approximately a month after MSN Local, the section of the portal which allows users to use maps to search for properties, crime rates, and political information in their area, emerged from beta testing. The news feeds would be served in this section of the portal and linked to maps.  Peter Bale, executive producer of MSN, said: “We are hoping to take feeds from local newspapers and tag every piece of information to a map. Hyper-local news online has never been more important and we think this is a really interesting growth area.”  When asked whether Microsoft would pay the newspaper publishers for the feeds, Mr Bale said the company “might pay”, or alternatively an arrangement could be reached where MSN Local could drive traffic back to each individual newspaper’s website, with a hyperlink included in every story.  Hyper-local news is increasingly valuable to digital companies, as it facilitates highly targeted adverts.  The ‘cars’ section of MSN is also launching a new car buyers guide tool in early August. This is with the aim of helping users choose the best model for their taste and budget. This particular part of the portal has enjoyed high levels of popularity, becoming Britain’s number one motoring website at the beginning of 2009.  Furthermore the ‘entertainment’ section has been split out into TV, celebrity, movies and music. Mr Bale explained: “We produce great entertainment content but by splitting out the topics within it, it will be a much stronger asset in parts for consumers and a more district property for advertisers.”  Last week it emerged that Yahoo, MSN’s direct competitor, had redesigned its home page to make it easier for users to access content from across the internet, including the latest news headlines and their Facebook and Twitter profiles.  The re-design is aimed at making it easier for internet users to access content and services from across the web. Yahoo! users will be able to pull in news headlines from a variety of sources, including the BBC and The Daily Telegraph.  They will also be able to update and share their status on sites such as eBay, Facebook and Twitter directly through the Yahoo! homepage using a new feature called My Favourites, which enables users to build personalised “boxes” linking through to social media sites.  A test version of the new-look website has already launched in the United States, and will go live in the UK, France and India over the next few weeks. A final version will be released in the autumn.
MSN, Microsoft&rsquo;s news and entertainment portal, is looking at partnering with    regional newspapers to serve hyper-local feeds, while it revamps several    parts of the site.