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Sometimes disruption can be taken too far. Unfortunately, it often is as a company grows and looks to adjacent markets to grow further. Such is the case with Google and its recent entry into the ad-management market. TechCrunch rightly opines:

This is good and provides customer value...to a point. But it's starting to sound an awful lot like Microsoft's voracious appetite on the desktop.

Why should publishers care? Because it makes Google their biggest competitor and stifles competition, as open-source ad-serving company OpenX notes:… Read more

Keeping tabs on Microsoft's efforts to win Yahoo, Matt Karnitschnig of the Wall Street Journal reported Friday on some interesting events.

As reported Thursday in News.com, the "radio silence" between the two companies has taken a shift and the parties have held informal merger discussions.

An interesting note in Karnitschnig's report is that the talks Monday in the Valley were held with only senior executives of the companies and no investment bankers from either side.

And while it's not unusual for executives to chat informally about "what if" merger scenarios without bankers … Read more

Microsoft on Friday announced that it has acquired Rapt, an advertising management software and services company.

Under the deal, whose terms were not disclosed, Rapt's software and services will be folded into Microsoft's Atlas Publisher Suite, which is part of its Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group.

Rapt's software and services are designed to aid online publishers with improving their ability to price, forecast and deliver ads. Microsoft plans to use Rapt's pricing analytics, inventory management, and business intelligence software on top of its Atlas ad-serving platform, thereby bolstering its presence among online publishers.

"With this … Read more

Virgin Mobile Canada knows how frustrated people can get with the lack of personalized service these days. Faster than Eliot Spitzer could say, "Um, oops," the company came out with a print ad that features the newly former New York governor, aka Client #9, musing as follows under a thought bubble: "I'm tired of being treated like a number..."

"At Virgin Mobile," the ad goes on to say, "you're more than just a number. When you call us we'll treat you like a person, not a client. Whether you're #… Read more

Last month London's Metropolitan Police started a five week campaign of what they are calling "counter-terrorism advertising," which includes a poster that implores people to report photographers to the police if they "seem odd." This is very troubling to me, since I consider myself to be quite odd and my job entails shooting photos on a daily basis. Luckily, I don't live in London, but here in New York City we have a similar campaign that's been going on for more than five years and while they haven't gone as far as … Read more

Microsoft and Yahoo are holding informal merger discussions, marking a shift from the "radio silence" that previously existed between the two companies, according to a source familiar with the talks.

A lot has changed over the past two weeks, compared with February 1 when Microsoft issued its unsolicited buyout bid for Yahoo, which initially valued the company at $31 a share.

"Yahoo has shown some willingness to have a conversation and talk," said the source on Wednesday. The source noted the Redmond giant has since come to the conclusion it may never get a formal rejection letter from Yahoo. … Read more

Watching the Microsoft-Yahoo show? Here are two figures to watch in the coming weeks:

$1.32 billion and 11 cents.

Yahoo is projected to generate $1.32 billion in revenue and earn 11 cents a share for the first quarter, according to analysts' estimates collected by Thomson Financial.

Anything less than that when the company reports its first-quarter results on April 22 could apply greater pressure on Yahoo to accept Microsoft's unsolicited buyout bid that was initially valued at $31 a share. This especially holds true if no other white knights emerge to make a deal with Yahoo.

One … Read more

Streaming radio advertising company TargetSpot has drawn $8.6 million in new investment from Bain Capital Ventures and existing backers Union Square Ventures, CBS, and Milestone Venture Partners, according to the company.

The investment was the company's second round since its founding in 2007. TargetSpot was built by Union Square-backed company Oddcast for CBS Radio, but it became an independent company last year with seed money from Union Square and others.

In a relatively short time, TargetSpot has emerged as a challenger to Google. Based in New York, the company launched a self-service ad platform for streaming radio last … Read more

With the Google-DoubleClick merger wrapped up Tuesday, Yahoo may face even greater pressure to find itself a buyout partner, according to Wall Street analysts and investors.

The Google-DoubleClick deal presents a greater threat to Yahoo's business of providing both Internet search advertising and display advertising, note analysts. And, as a result, Yahoo now has another issue to contend with, beyond Microsoft's unsolicited megabillion dollar buyout deal waiting in the wings.

"The Google-DoubleClick deal provides further firepower to Microsoft to win over Yahoo," said Mark May, an analyst with Needham & Co. "Microsoft's bid price … Read more