Facebook to buy Microsoft’s Atlas ad platform?
If reports are to be believed, Facebook is in talks with Microsoft to buy the latter’s Atlas ad technology.
All Things D and Business Insider report that Facebook has been long eyeing Atlas and use the tech to compete with Google’s popular DoubleClick ad network. Business Insider cites industry sources as saying the two tech giants are working on a deal, which could “change forever the way online advertising is conducted”, referring to Facebook’s huge database of its subscribers.
“That should make Facebook an attractive place for marketers to advertise, because it’s always nice to know exactly what you’re getting for your money,” Business Insider said.
In the meanwhile, All Things D reports Facebook has been ‘debating internally’ whether to develop an ad platform from scratch or buy an already successful model one like Atlas, and that now appears to be leaning toward the second option.
Facebook and Microsoft haven’t yet responded to rumours or speculation.
Microsoft had bought Atlas as part of its $6 billion purchase of aQuantive in 2007. The acquisition of Atlas could be a huge step for Facebook, which has been attempting to fuel its revenue engine and please the investors, who haven’t shown the kind of enthusiasm Facebook would have wanted since it launched its IPO earlier this year.
Slashgear in its report relates Facebook’s acquisition of Atlas with its recent attempts to share users activities on the social networking sites with other websites in a bid to show relevant ads. “Facebook’s acquisition of Atlas may have something to do with these plans, although it seemed like Facebook wanted to build their own in-house network, but it’s possible that they decided that buying an ad network would be the easiest option,” says the Slashgear report.