Microsoft Adds Web Broker to Online Ad Strategy
07/26/07 - 06:20 PM EDT
Ivy Lessner
Key to driving revenue in the online advertising business is the company's growth in the volume of registered, active Live ID users, who now number 380 million, Johnson said. Also important will be the ad placement capability brought by Microsoft's acquisition of Massive, which has over 40 publishers and will have over 100 game titles by the end of the year, he added.
The company is building on ad delivery technology, he said. aQuantive brings the ability to deliver video advertising on demand. "On the PC, we continue to enhance through solutions such as Silverlight" and its zoom capabilities, "something that advertisers are embracing." Johnson suggested more acquisitions to fill out Microsoft's online services business are to come in 2008, saying it will be another year of investment for the division. The company disclosed July 19 that its online services revenue grew 19%, to $688 million during the most recent quarter. Shares of Microsoft slipped Wednesday 2.4% to $29.98 amid the market's broad-based selloff. Addressing criticism of the $6 billion Microsoft is paying for aQuantive, Johnson said, other companies were bidding aggressively. "aQuantive was a prized asset." Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the company will go broader into markets outside its core competency of software: "We're investing today in two new core competencies: advertising and devices."
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