Steve Ballmer's talks in Paris today continued with his announcement of Microsoft's plans to increase spending on its online advertising network. In efforts to overtake Google on the advertising front, Microsoft is putting a lot of resources into its own online advertising network and hoping to become the #1 option for businesses out there. As online advertising continues to grow, it's expected to overtake all other media advertising platforms in the next few years.
That's what Ballmer is banking on. With $6 billion.
It's expansion in the UK is key to its possible domination of the market, and its acquisition of aQuantive, its promotion of Windows Live Spaces, niche networks like Live Moms and now Jellyfish, its partners for advertising networks, its new UK Startup fund and the tweaking of its online ad model, it's clear that Microsoft isn't playing games.
And still, it has a good amount to contend with when it comes to Google. The search engine and ad network giant is rolling out some big time plans of its own, from interactive gadget ads to an open network for developers that could stand to catapult its web-based services into an advertising dream, though the battle for a complete acquisition of DoubleClick could slow Google down, especially if Microsoft has anything to do with it.