Microsoft has formed an online ad group dubbed the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions (APS) Group.According to Microsoft:
The APS team will assume responsibility for building and marketing all ad platforms, including Atlas, DRIVEpm, MSNDR and Microsoft AdCenter, along with emerging media types such as in-game and mobile ads, and the agency arm Avenue A | Razorfish. The APS group will be run by Brian McAndrews, CEO of aQuantive, who will report directly to Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft’s Platforms & Services Division (PSD).“Today we take a significant step forward in our ability to capture share of the $40 billion online ad opportunity and the larger $600 billion ad market, which is rapidly shifting to the world of online and IP-served platforms, including TV and gaming,” Johnson said.
Integration headaches for Microsoft with aQuantative deal?
The group will have unenviable task of integrating aQuantive into Microsoft and coming up with strategy that allows Microsoft to work with online competitors like Yahoo and Google. See
Also see CEO Steve Ballmer’s prediction: “We are going to be an advertising company.”
