Microsoft buys Internet ad agency
OrlandoSentinelMicrosoft Corp., not wanting to get left behind rivals in an online advertising boom, agreed to pay $6 billion in cash to acquire aQuantive Inc. on Friday, a leading agency for Internet ads. The company also has powerful technology that serves display and banner ads to other Web sites. It will be the largest acquisition in Microsoft's history. Getting aQuantive could help Microsoft jump-start its online advertising business, which lags far behind Google and Yahoo Inc. due to the lower traffic on its own destination Web site, MSN.
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