Microsoft lands ad deal with Facebook
TechWeb | at | by Mike
Microsoft on Wednesday said it has an exclusive deal to provide online advertising to fast-growing Facebook, an important step in Microsoft's uphill battle to catch up with rivals Google and Yahoo.
The agreement to sell and display banner ads and sponsored links on the popular social-networking site connects a second large Internet company to Microsoft's advertising network and platform, called AdCenter. The Redmond, Wash., company has also signed A9.com, Amazon.com's search engine.
Facebook is a solid win because it delivers to advertisers a prized demographic, college and high school students. But Microsoft will still need to show that newly developed AdCenter can deliver a solid return to advertisers and revenue to Facebook. Other than saying the agreement is for three years, Facebook declined to release financial details.