Microsoft has won a major content and advertising partnership with Viacom, to the tune of $500 million over five years. The major deal points are that Viacom will use Microsoft Atlas (the byproduct of the aQuantive acquisition) for managing ads on its web sites, while the software company will license Viacom content (MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Pictures, etc.) for various Microsoft products including MSN and Xbox 360.
Additionally, Microsoft will buy advertising on Viacom’s TV networks and online properties, and Viacom will become “a preferred publishing partner” for Xbox 360 and other gaming products.
Specific terms of the deal were not announced, but this clearly a pretty big win for Microsoft. With prior big money deals with Facebook and Digg, the company is clearly willing to spend aggressively to become a leader in online advertising. Steve Ballmer has stated he wants the company’s online ad business to eventually account for 25 percent of total revenue, and mega deals like this one will certainly help accelerate the process.