NY Post: Microsoft Eyeing 24/7 Real Media
With Google scooping up DoubleClick, and Yahoo's acquisition Monday of the remaining stake of Right Media, Microsoft is apparently eyeing 24/7 Real Media, the New York Post reported Tuesday.
Microsoft and advertising company WPP Group are in the running to acquire the company, which is said to be worth some $600 million according to analysts. However, the Redmond, Wash. Company is serious about its pursuit of the firm, and is said to be considering a $1 billion offer.
Online advertising is becoming more and more profitable: Google for example could credit much of its massive financial success to its online advertising strategy. With its acquisition of DoubleClick, the company threatens to have a near stranglehold on the market.
Add this to Yahoo's move Monday to acquire the portion of Right Media it did not own, and it puts Microsoft in the precarious position of falling behind in the industry. While it has focused on making it easier to advertise on its own websites through adCenter, it has done little to expand its ad presence onto third-party sites.
A spokesperson for Microsoft declined to comment on the story, calling it "rumor."