Microsoft adCenters on Facebook

Responding to Google’s $900 million advertising and search tie-up with MySpace, Microsoft and Facebook have struck an banner and search ad agreement. The two are clearly not one-upping the category leaders; terms of the deal were not disclosed, thus avoiding comparison to MySpace-Google. According to reports, Facebook-Microsoft talks only started in earnest late last week. Facebook has until now made light use of advertising on its site, experimenting with user-generated “flyers” and sponsored groups by companies like Apple. This is Microsoft’s new adCenter’s first big catch.

Facebook has about nine million members, compared to MySpace’s 100 million. (To be fair, Facebook does have an unmatched hold on its members, with two thirds of them visiting daily.) Facebook, Microsoft, Google, and MySpace have recently been trading hook-ups as fast as a high school clique. Microsoft had only just lost out on the MySpace deal, and Facebook has been in talks with Google, according to the WSJ. Facebook COO Owen Van Natta tries to talk up the partnership between the two runner-ups:

Mr. Van Natta wouldn’t comment on the talks but said Facebook chose Microsoft in part because the company’s technology and approach are a better fit. “We think they have a real understanding of the need to take a fresh approach to advertising and social media,” he said. Mr. Van Natta said that because Microsoft is newer to online advertising than rivals and is now building a system to handle ads online, its technology doesn’t have to be “retrofitted” to social-networking sites like Facebook.

The not-so-subtle dig at Google doesn’t mask the fact that Microsoft’s new adCenter is just that — new, and doesn’t have a track record. How much money it ultimately brings in — we will know in six months.

loading

Comments have been disabled for this post