Microsoft has completed its acquisition of digital marketing services agency, aQuantive on August 13, 2007. Following the purchase, they have formed the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions (APS) Group. The deal is worth $6 Billion, making it Microsoft’s most expensive acquisition ever.
This acquisition is intend to enable Microsoft to take on advertising giants Google and Yahoo! by providing a world-class advertising platform, and comes hot on the hells of previous purchases, which include Internet ad marketplace AdECN, mobile ad company ScreenTonic and video game ad firm Massive.
The Advertiser and Publisher Solutions team will manage Microsoft’s and aQuantitive’s advertising platforms and technologies including adCenter, Atlas, DRIVEpm and MSNDR as well as emerging media types such as in-game and mobile ads, and the agency arm Avenue A | Razorfish.
A report by UBS Investment Research places Microsoft’s $1.6 billion online advertising revenue 3rd in the rankings for 2006, far behind Google’s $10.5 billion or even Yahoo!’s $5.6 billion. Considering that the total online advertising market is worth $40 billion, it is easy to see why Microsoft are pulling out all stops in their race for dominance in yet another industry.
