Microsoft acquires ad exchange company
InfoWorld | at | by Mike
Microsoft has acquired AdECN, a company that offers what it describes as a stock market for display ads.
AdECN earlier this year launched an auction-based exchange for online advertising. Members can buy ad inventory for advertisers and sell on behalf of publishers. It currently has 37 member advertising networks, said Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft's platform and services division.
The acquisition will complement Microsoft's AdCenter and extend the technology offered by aQuantive, another company that Microsoft is in the process of acquiring, he said. AdECN, based in Carpenteria, Calif., will expand Microsoft's capabilities by offering an auction exchange for display ads, he said.