Microsoft Inks Ad Deal with Wall Street Journal Digital Network

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

No matter what people think, Google is not an unstoppable force in advertising and search. Microsoft proved it today by inking a deal with the Wall Street Journal Digital Network, becoming their exclusive third-party provider of contextual and paid search advertising.

This means Microsoft is providing ads for not just The Wall Street Journal Online, Barrons.com, MarketWatch.com, AllThingsD.com as well as others. Their ad program will get exposure to 20 million unique users and over 330 million page views per month.

In a press release, Brian McAndrews, senior vice president, Advertiser and Publisher Solutions at Microsoft said:

“This deal is a significant win for Microsoft for two key reasons. First, it makes the extended Microsoft advertising network the premier destination for advertisers interested in reaching financially minded users, as it complements our offering in this vertical through MSN Money and other syndication partners. Second, this deal is a strong indicator that we’re gaining significant traction with our advertising platform. The Wall Street Journal Digital Network is one of the largest financial services publishers in a very dynamic vertical segment, and we’re delighted to add it to our portfolio.”

Contextual ads will begin appearing on the WSJ Digital Network in February. No information has been given on paid search advertising.

Unlike recent deals Microsoft signed with Viacom (Dec.) and Edgar Online (this month) which use the Atlas technology acquired as part of Microsoft’s Aquantive purchase, the WSJ is using Microsoft’s own AdCenter product.

We Say: Including those two deals, as well as the expanded ad-offering at Facebook in October, Microsoft is on a roll. Not that Google is hurting, mind you.