Microsoft has announced that UK and French marketers with fewer than 100,000 keywords in their pay-per-click (PPC) accounts can now download the adCenter Desktop Tool.

The application is currently in beta and lets users work on their paid search campaigns offline by downloading them, making the relevant changes and uploading them again to the online version of adCenter.

Microsoft initially launched the tool in the US and Canada in February this year.

Writing on the adCenter Blog for Advertisers, Microsoft UK search media strategist Adam Goodman explained that the latest version of adCenter Desktop Tool is localised and offers new functions such as integrated charts, alerts and favourites.

He urged British marketers downloading the application to ensure they set their language to UK English and to check that their ads have been set to target users in the UK.

"Knowing your market and language setting is a great start to ensure you're delivering on the correct distribution channel," Mr Goodman remarked.

Earlier this year, Shar VanBoskirk of Forrester Research urged PPC marketers to ensure they place ads across all of the main search engines rather than just Google, as web users are increasingly turning to specific engines for information on particular niche areas.