Microsoft to Provide and Sell Ads on Facebook
The two did not disclose the terms of the deal, in which Microsoft will be the exclusive seller and provider of banner advertising and sponsored links for Facebook. The site, a social network that allows users to set up pages about themselves, post pictures and create discussions, attracts a youthful demographic that is highly prized by advertisers.
The deal follows an announcement earlier this month that Google had agreed to pay a minimum of $900 million over three and a half years to the News Corporation to provide search functions and advertising to MySpace.com, the hugely popular social networking site.
Facebook directs its own advertising now but under the deal will outsource it exclusively to Microsoft until mid-2009. The ads are to start appearing in the fall.
Steve Berkowitz, senior vice president of the online services group for Microsoft, said ads would be made for Facebook, but they could also be aimed at any of MSN’s various Internet properties, which have a total of 400 million users worldwide. At the same time, ads running on MSN properties may also appear on Facebook, depending on what audience the advertiser wants to reach.
The deal gives advertisers access to Facebook’s audience of young, educated spenders. The site, founded in 2004, was once limited to college students, but with the growing popularity of MySpace, it has allowed access by recent college graduates, high school students and employees of certain companies.
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