Cloud Computing: AOL to Take Over Microsoft’s Display Ad Business, Use Bing
June 30, 2015
Grazed from Bloomberg. Author: Dina Bass.
Microsoft Corp. is getting out of Web display advertising, with AOL Inc. taking over the business and letting the software maker focus on mobile and cloud computing. AOL will use Microsoft’s Bing Internet search engine instead of Google Inc. as part of the 10-year deal, the companies said in a statement Monday. Microsoft also said it’s expanding an ad partnership with AppNexus Inc., an online marketing company.
AOL will hire about 1,200 Microsoft workers in display ad sales, marketing and engineering, according to Gerasimos Manolatos, a spokesman for AOL. AppNexus will take other Microsoft employees. Some remaining employees will be offered other jobs at Microsoft, said a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because specific details of the deal haven’t been announced…
Microsoft is shedding the business, which focuses on graphic ads such as banners and videos, as Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella works to sharpen focus on three key areas: personal computing, cloud platforms and business productivity. Since becoming CEO early last year, Nadella has been streamlining the workforce, acquiring mobile and cloud software makers, and paring units not central to his strategy…
Read more from the source @ http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-29/aol-to-take-over-microsoft-s-web-display-ad-business-use-bing