Microsoft announced a deal with aQuantive failed

In fact, the deal with aQuantive advertising company, which Microsoft acquired in 2007 for $ 6.3 billion, is not just a failure, but a failure. The corporation has officially written off more than $ 6 billion. Because of this amount of loss, the quarterly report of Microsoft is likely to be unprofitable too, which was not a very long time ago (if ever.)

Microsoft has failed to integrate the aQuantive bought agency so that it brings significant profit. The company was bought as a competitor to the advertising service of the corporation Google. In any case, the calculation was on the development of the purchase, and on the creation of a reliable competitor to the Google advertising network. Microsoft's management probably relied very heavily on the return on the purchased company - no one spends just $ 6.3 billion just for fun (and even in 2007).
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Only recently, Microsoft broke its own record for spending, acquiring Skype for 8.5 billion dollars. It is worth noting that some time after aQuantive was bought by Microsoft, Google acquired a similar advertising agency, DoubleClick. Apparently, this was a good acquisition, and since then the advertising network (and, accordingly, revenues) of the “Corporation of Good” has increased significantly.

As far as you can understand, the entire Microsoft online division is zero, if not unprofitable. The total loss of this division of the corporation was about 10.4 billion dollars in about five years. The main profit of the company is still brought by software, in which Microsoft is traditionally strong.

Via money.cnn.com