Components of Microsoft's Advertising Business

With its acquisitions of aQuantive and AdECN, Microsoft has radically expanded its presence in the online advertising industry. This chart shows some of the ways an advertiser (bottom) can buy advertising space, or inventory, sold by a Web site publisher (top). Microsoft’s assets in each particular area are noted in parentheses.

Advertisers generally begin by working with an advertising agency, such as Avenue A | Razorfish. If the agency wants to advertise with a particular publisher, it may have to use tools specific to that publisher and conduct business with that publisher’s sales force. For example, to advertise on Microsoft sites, an agency might employ Microsoft’s adCenter platform to buy keywords on Microsoft’s Live Search site, or work with Microsoft’s Digital Advertising Solutions sales force to plan branding campaigns that span multiple Microsoft properties. Digital Advertising Solutions also handles advertising placement on Microsoft affiliate sites such as Facebook, Digg, and Piczo.