atlas - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

Microsoft has restructured its digital advertising business to accommodate its recent buyouts of aQuantive and online ad exchange AdECN.

The software giant has created a new ‘Advertiser and Publisher Solutions’ unit to promote its online ad platforms to publishers and brands and carry the fight to arch-rivals Google and Yahoo!.

Shareholders of aQuantive have given the green light for the company’s $6bn purchase by Microsoft in a meeting that reportedly lasted for a little over six minutes.

The acquisition, which gives the Redmond giant ownership of ad technology provider Atlas, as well as interactive agency AvenueA and targeting tech company Drive PM, is now expected to close in the next few days.

A new study from aQuantive's Atlas Institute has looked at the effects of running ads across multiple publishers, portals and ad networks, and found that this can have a positive effect on conversions.

The study (PDF), (via Google's CPG Blog) found that users that are reached across many sites tend to be more avid media consumers, and are often responsible for the majority of conversions.