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February 27, 2008 11:23 AM PST

Microsoft gets YaData, still working on Yahoo

by Ina Fried
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Microsoft has acquired Israeli ad-targeting start-up YaData.

The price tag is somewhere between $20 million and $30 million, Israeli business daily Globes reported.

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The acquisition, announced Wednesday, comes as Microsoft pursues its vastly larger acquisition target, Yahoo.

Microsoft said the YaData team will be folded into the software giant's existing research and development center in Herzliya, Israel, and will operate as part of its ad unit. YaData focuses on so-called behavioral targeting, which serves up advertising based on what users are doing at their computer.

"The purchase of YaData brings the Israeli R&D center into the field of online advertising, which is undoubtedly one of Microsoft's most strategic fields," said Moshe Lichtman, president of the Microsoft Israel R&D Center. "This is a great example of how Israeli technology has considerable value that is contributing to our most important areas of development."

"YaData fully believes in the potential of behavioral targeting to enhance the value of online advertising for publishers, advertisers and users," said Amir Peleg, chief executive officer of of the Israeli company, said in a statement. "Microsoft has the resources to unlock the potential in YaData's technology."

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About Beyond Binary

During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft.


Beyond Binary is a look at how technology is changing our lives and the people behind all that life-changing stuff, with an extra emphasis on that which emanates from Redmond, Wash.

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