Facebook buying Atlas ad business from Microsoft
Facebook is buying a set of online advertising tools called Atlas from Microsoft in its latest attempt to build a more effective marketing system around its social network.
In making the deal announced Thursday, Facebook is betting the acquired technology will be more fruitful under new ownership than it was during the past 5 1/2 years under Microsoft's control. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Atlas is part of an online advertising service called aQuantive, which Microsoft Corp. bought for $6.3 billion in 2007. Aquantive didn't bring in as much online ad revenue as Microsoft envisioned, prompting the software maker to absorb a $6.2 billion charge last year that resulted in its first quarterly loss in its 26-year history as a public company.
Given the magnitude of that writedown, Facebook probably didn't have to pay much to take Atlas off Microsoft's hands. The undisclosed purchase price is a sign that the amount isn't substantial enough to leave a big dent in the company's finances.
Atlas provides monitoring tools that help advertisers assess how their online marketing tools are faring. It helps marketers make adjustments needed to connect people more likely to buy their products and services.
Facebook Inc. already analyzes the interests that people share on its social network to target ads at certain audiences.
Those insights helped Facebook sell $4.3 billion in advertising last year, a 36 percent increase from 2011.
But that wasn't enough to satisfy investors who want Facebook to grow at a faster rate. Wall Street's disappointment with Facebook's performance,
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