Facebook Inc is in negotiations with Microsoft Corp about acquiring
advertising technology that could allow the social network displays ads
on other websites, broadly expanding its advertising business, according
to media reports on Thursday.
Facebook is in "serious" discussions
with Microsoft about a deal to purchase Atlas Solutions, an ad-serving
product that Microsoft acquired through its $6 billion acquisition of
aQuantive in 2007, according to reports in the technology blogs Business
Insider and AllThingsDigital on Thursday.
The deal could allow
Facebook to significantly expand its advertising business by showing ads
on third-party websites, mounting a challenge to Google Inc's
DoubleClick ad network, said the reports, which cited anonymous sources.
The
potential price for the acquisition was unclear, though Business
Insider said the highest bid for Atlas in Microsoft's previous attempts
to sell the business was $30 million.
Facebook and Microsoft representatives declined to comment.
Facebook,
the world's No. 1 online social network with roughly 1 billion users,
has been moving aggressively to bolster its advertising business with
new capabilities, including ads on mobile devices and features that
demonstrate the effectiveness of its ads to marketers.
Facebook
currently generates 86 percent of its revenue, which totaled roughly
$1.3 billion in the third quarter, from ads that appear on its own
website.
Shares of Facebook were off 1.2 percent, or 33 cents, at
$27.38 in midday trading on Thursday. Microsoft shares were up 7 cents
at $26.73.
© Thomson Reuters 2012