Microsoft Drops Ad Business

Microsoft Corp that it will hand over its display advertising business to AOL Inc and sell some map-generating technology to ride-hailing app company Uber, as it scales back on unprofitable operations.

The moves mean Microsoft will focus on its growing search advertising business based on its Bing search engine, and displaying maps on its Windows devices rather than generating the maps themselves.

Microsoft, which employs hundreds of people in its display ad business around the world, said those employees would be offered the chance to transfer to AOL and that it was not making any layoffs.

The world’s largest software company no longer breaks out results for its online operations, chiefly its MSN web portal and Bing, but they have lost more than $10 billion over the past five years. Chief Executive Satya Nadella has said Bing will turn a profit next fiscal year.

“Today’s news is evidence of Microsoft’s increased focus on our strengths: in this case, search and search advertising and building great content and consumer services,” saidMicrosoft in a statement.

Under a 10-year deal struck with AOL, now a unit of Verizon Communications Inc ,AOL will sell display ads on MSN, Outlook.com, Xbox, Skype and in some apps in major countries. As part of the deal, Bing will become the search engine behind web searches onAOL starting next year.

Microsoft also struck a multi-year extension to its existing deal with AppNexus, which provides the tech platform for buyers to purchase online ads.

Microsoft and Uber did not disclose financial terms of their deal, under which Uber will take over the part of Microsoft’s mapping unit that works on imagery acquisition and map data processing. Uber will offer jobs to the 100 or so Microsoft employees working in that area, according to a source familiar with the deal.

Source

AOL Launches Professional Division

AOL Inc is launching a professional division called AOL Industry on Monday geared towards capturing the  government, energy and defense executives attention.

The idea is to bring the use of social media, video and design from consumer-oriented sites and apply it to media for business professionals.

“(Trade media) hasn’t done as good a job at innovating as consumer media,” said Jay Kirsch, vice president and general manager of AOL Industry, who pitched the idea to AOL at the end of last summer.

“If you look at most of the innovations that have really changed media most of them have been consumer facing and not business-to-business.”

AOL Energy rolled out first and will be followed by AOL Government and AOL Defense in June. AOL Industry is not charging a subscription for access and will not have a print component.

Read More…