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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Facebook buys Microsoft ad technology platform, (NASDAQ: FB), (NASDAQ: GOOG)

Facebook Inc said on Thursday it had agreed to purchase advertising technology from Microsoft Corp that measures the effectiveness of ads on its website, which should help in its fight with Google Inc for online advertising revenue.Under the long-rumored transaction, Facebook will purchase the Atlas Advertiser Suite, an ad management and measurement platform that Microsoft took on with its $6.3 billion acquisition of digital ad agency aQuantive in 2007. Facebook did not say how much it paid for the technology.Unable to make it work for its own purposes, Microsoft wrote off $6.2 billion of the aQuantive deal's value last year.Facebook has long been dogged by doubts about the effectiveness of its ads and was embarrassed just days before its initial public offering in May when General Motors Co declared it was pulling the plug on all paid advertising on Facebook's network.

Facebook, Inc. (Facebook) is engaged in building products to create utility for users, developers, and advertisers. Shares of FB traded higher by 1.41% or $0.38/share to $27.25. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $17.55 and as high as $45.00. On average, 64632800 shares of FB exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 82964832.

Google Inc. (Google) is a global technology company focused on improving the ways people connect with information. Shares of GOOG traded higher by 0.18% or $1.42/share to $801.20. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $556.52 and as high as $808.97. On average, 2373500 shares of GOOG exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2264972.



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