News
Microsoft To Serve Ads for CNBC.com
Microsoft Corp. said Monday it will provide online advertising for CNBC's financial
news Web site.
The software maker said it will be the exclusive third-party seller of contextually
driven text ads on the site starting later in December, and display ads beginning
in March 2008. The companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal.
Jon Tinter, a general manager at Microsoft, said the company plans to offer
advertisers the option to buy ads on CNBC.com together with ads
on Microsoft's own financial site, MSN Money.
CNBC.com, part of General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal division, gets about
2.6 million unique visitors each month, according to a company statement. Microsoft
said it plans to aggregate information about CNBC.com visitors' Web surfing
habits to better target advertising in the future.
CNBC will maintain its own ad sales team, which will focus on selling video
ads online and on CNBC TV.
Microsoft has invested heavily in its advertising business this year, including
the $6 billion acquisition of online advertising company aQuantive Inc., which
closed in August.
Google Inc. remains the largest seller of online advertising.
Microsoft shares edged up 23 cents to close at $34.76.