The FINANCIAL — Microsoft Corp announced on November 2 that it has signed a deal with Online advertising start-up OpenX.
The Wall Street Journal informs that they signed a deal to expand the reach of a contextual online advertising service designed to compete with rival technology offered by Google Inc.
Microsoft is relying on Content Ads, which emerged from early, "beta" status in May, to augment its online services division, according to the same source. Content Ads is designed to compete with Google's AdSense product, a popular means for smaller Internet publishers to earn advertising revenue.
OpenX will make it easier for its Web publisher customers to use Microsoft technology that analyzes the content of a Web page and matches relevant ads to the page, Reuters wrote. Microsoft and OpenX did not disclose the financial terms of the multiyear deal, though there will be the opportunity for both companies to make money in the deal, said Peter MacDonald, Microsoft's director of advertising business development.
Microsoft Publishing Business Group General Manager Maggie Finch said that the OpenX deal will be "a big benefit for Microsoft, in gaining access to a large array of quality publishers that OpenX already serves," WSJ reported. OpenX Chief Executive Tim Cadogan said his company now serves some 50,000 publishers.
While Microsoft only offers ad serving technology that is hosted in Microsoft's data centers, he noted that OpenX allows publishers to install the software on their own computers, Reuters informs. OpenX technology is also open-source, allowing customers a wide degree of customization options.
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