Microsoft sees ad growth opportunity

Over the past 12 months, Microsoft has brought in more than $10bn in ad revenue and is stepping up its efforts in this space.

The ad business 

Announcing Q2 results for the quarter to end December, CFO Amy Hood flagged better than expected figures for search and news advertising revenue which increased 32% (excluding traffic acquisition costs) during the quarter. Continued advertising market growth also drove another strong quarter in LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, she added. 

For the future of search and news advertising (ex-TAC), Microsoft anticipates revenue growth in the mid to high-teens.

Background

• The recent acquisition of adtech firm Xandr is intended to enable Microsoft to bring to market new advertising solutions.
• The launch of coupon and price comparison features in Edge has surfaced more than $800 million in savings over the past year.

Key quote

“Across Bing and Edge, we are creating differentiated, high value experiences for consumers and advertisers in key verticals, including shopping” – Satya Nadella, CEO Microsoft.

Sourced from Seeking Alpha, Microsoft [Image: Tadas Sar on Unsplash]