Microsoft Corp. has acquired online ad exchange AdECN Inc., underscoring its determination to go toe to toe with Google and Yahoo in the online advertising business.
AdECN, which has been in business since 2003, allows ad networks to auction available online ad inventory to advertisers. Yahoo acquired online ad exchange Right Media in April and Google is in the process of acquiring online ad network DoubleClick, which recently has started its own ad exchange.
However, unlike the other exchanges, AdECN only allows ad networks, and not publishers, to put inventory up for sale. That eliminates the possibility of the ad networks competing in the auctions for advertisers with the publishers—the web site owners—that sell ad space through the ad networks. Or, as Microsoft put it, “AdECN market advertising networks trade on behalf of their advertisers and publishers. This means that AdECN supports, rather than competes with, the various players in the online advertising industry.”
“Joining forces with Microsoft will provide the capital and resources to enable AdECN to scale the exchange at a much faster pace, making it more attractive to the advertising networks and other traffic aggregators looking to better serve their advertisers and publishers,” says William Urschel, founder and CEO of AdECN. AdECN’s approximately 30 employees will continue to operate from the company’s office near Santa Barbara, CA, as part of Microsoft’s Online Services Business.
The deal is the latest move by Microsoft to position itself as a major player in online advertising. In May the software giant announced it would pay $6 billion for advertising firm aQuantive, whose Avenue A/Razorfish subsidiary specializes in online advertising, web site design, and search engine and e-mail marketing. Just this week, Microsoft also announced a deal to become the exclusive provider of display and contextual advertising for social networking site Digg.
Microsoft did not disclose how much it is paying for AdECN.
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