Microsoft Buys Ad Inventory Management Firm Rapt
This story was written by David Kaplan.
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has bought San Francisco-based tech marketing company Rapt. Terms were not disclosed. The company, which provides ad inventory management systems, will be integrated with the Atlas Publisher Suite, under Microsoft's Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group. Atlas became part of Microsoft when it bought aQuantive for $6 billion last year.
Rapt currently employees about 85 staffers. It was founded in 1998 and has received funding in the past from Accel Partners and Levensohn Venture Partners. Release
-- SF Gate: Microsoft expects the deal to close in the next month or so. Before buying Rapt, Microsoft was also a client; Tom Chavez, Rapt's CEO, said the company's ad management system helped MSN realize ad revenue gains of 15- to 20 percent. Chavez claims those results are typical of its other clients.
-- Adweek: Microsoft's latest acquisition represents the company's latest to try to counter Google (NSDQ: GOOG), which saw its long-awaited purchase of DoubleClick close this week. So today's announcement is probably not very coincidental. More to come
By David Kaplan