Microsoft views its aQuantive purchase as much more of a merger than an acquisition, based on Steve Berkowitz, the Microsoft Senior Vice President of Over the internet Solutions.Berkowitz discussed Microsoft;s $6 billion aQuantive acquire,
Office Enterprise 2007 Key, among other subjects, throughout his May 22 presentation at the JP Morgan Technology conference. (I listened towards the Webcast of his speak.)“I would call the aQuantive acquisition additional of the merger” than an acquisition, Berkowitz said. He said that he told Microsoft employees the same throughout an internal Town Meeting on the deal on May well 18.Berkowitz characterized the aQuantive purchase as an “additive.” “It puts us in places where we weren;t before,
Windows 7 32 Bit,” he said.The former Ask CEO, who has been with Microsoft for about a year, spoke plainly of Microsoft;s aspirations in the digital advertising market.“There;s an opportunity to develop a new source of revenue for the company, which is advertising,” Berkowitz told JP Morgan conference attendees. He added that Microsoft is “growing faster than the industry on the ad side,” though not around the search side, of the market.Berkowitz said that advertising, companies and software are all platforms upon which Microsoft is hoping to capitalize. He said Microsoft is focused on building a set of common back-end platforms that will provide the infrastructure needed to support all three businesses. Those core platforms include adCenter, its digital-advertising platform; business intelligence; search; mail; portal;and points,
Office 2010 Professional Plus, he said.(Berkowitz, like other Microsoft executives who;ve spoken about Microsoft;s plans to merge aQuantive;s tools and technologies with Microsoft;s existing infrastructure, didn;t discuss any specifics regarding how/when/if Microsoft intends to integrate aQuantive;s Atlas platform with Microsoft;s adCenter.)“These business models will scale tremendously” when you get to a certain point, Berkowitz said,
Office Home And Business 2010 Key, though he added that he wasn;t sure “when that will be.”Berkowitz reiterated Microsoft;s belief that it will have better luck gaining a foothold in the “convenience search” market, rather than the “destination search market.” Convenience search is about searching from where you are — inside of an application or a Net page, as contrasted with destination search, which involves going to a search-specific page to pose a query.Microsoft;s share of the desination search market is low and dropping, based on the latest Nielsen/NetRatings data released this week.To improve its convenience search share, Microsoft is working to add Live Search boxes to the bottom of every MSN page,
Office Standard 2010, Berkowitz said. It also is focused on integrating Live Search into all of its Windows Live properties. Microsoft;s on line team also is looking for ways to better integrate Windows Live Spaces, the company;s blogging tool, with other next-generation Live properties, he added.Berkowitz noted that getting default search placement in operating systems and other Net sites doesn;t provide as considerably of a search-share advantage as it used to.“It;s too easy for (customers) to switch” the defaults, Berkowitz said.Instead, Microsoft is focusing on improving its search results, interface/experience, stickiness and “emotional attachment” to help build up its hare, Berkowitz said.Update: Todd Bishop at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has much more Berkowitz sound bites.