Microsoft and aQuantive: Consolidation Continues
If Yahoo’s purchase of Right Media and Google’s purchase of DoubleClick weren’t enough, today, The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft is buying aQuantive.
Among aQuantive’s business units are the agency, Avenue A /Razorfish, third-party ad serving platform Atlas Media Console and behavioral performance media company, Drive PM.
With Microsoft offering an 85% premium to aQuantive’s stock price, what does this and other recent acquisitions say about the online advertising industry?
In an article on CNN Money yesterday, Russ Mann, chief executive officer of SEMDirector was quoted as saying:
“…more consolidation is likely in the future as more and more large advertisers shift ad budgets from traditional media like TV, radio and print to the Web, which is far more easy to measure. “
Though the migration of ad dollars to online is impressive thus far, the biggest - by far - is yet to come. Hello, brand dollars. Companies like Microsoft are seeing that opportunity.
Related News: Microsoft, TechCrunch, Search Engine Land, Don Dodge, Center Network
-- John Ebbert
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