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Filed under: Business, Microsoft

Microsoft now serving ads on shopping carts

Computer in cartIf you're the type of person that detests video screens placed in the grocery checkout line: those incessant, unavoidable peddlers; then you might want to start avoiding the grocery store altogether.

In a new partnership with MediaCart Holdings and Wakefern Food, Microsoft has signed up to deliver personalized ads to shoppers through computerized shopping carts. Customers can scan their "customer loyalty cards" at the machine and receive ads and electronic coupons according to their buying history (you did know those cards recorded your purchase history, didn't you?).

Microsoft's part is to serve video ads to the computers through their Atlas technology, which they recently acquired with the $6 billion purchase of aQuantive last year.

In addition to ads, customers will be able to view the specials on the aisles in which they're shopping, and total all the items in their shopping cart prior to checking out. Do they not trust people to find the specials tags or perform simple addition? Maybe they've taken a deep look at our educational system...

MediaCart is expected to begin customer trials in ShopRite stores in the second half of this year.

[Via Yahoo! News]

Filed under: Internet, News, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, AOL

Microsoft buys another ad network

AdECNIn the ongoing struggle for online advertising dominance, Microsoft has picked up AdECN, an online advertising exchange. No word on how much Gates and company paid for the company, but the move comes just two months after Microsoft paid $6 billion for advertiser aQuantive.

So let's see if we can keep this straight now:
Are we leaving anybody out? And doesn't it give you a warm fuzzy feeling to be reminded periodically that the biggest players in online media companies are more interested in selling you things than providing useful services.

Filed under: Internet, Microsoft

Microsoft spends twice as much as Google to purchase ad company

aQuantiveYou know how Google beat out Microsoft with a $3.1 billion bid for online advertising company DoubleClick? Yeah, Microsoft don't need to stinkin' DoubleClick. They went out and spent $6 billion this morning on their own advertising company (that you've never heard of), aQuantive.

According to Michael Arrington over at TechCrunch, aQuantive's revenues for 2006 were $442 million, and the company's net income was about $54 million, which leads to the obvious question: couldn't Microsoft have found a cheaper advertising company to acquire? Sure, everybody wants to pick up an advertising company these days so it can be integrated into your search engine/online portal's business model. But $6 billion is a lot of dough.

In fact, Microsoft paid about $66 per share, which was twice the trading price. Odds are there was a bidding war and the company didn't want to lose another one of those.

Featured Time Waster

Forumwarz - a potentially offensive time waster

I pwn UAfter spending the better part of an hour on Forumwarz I still can't decide if it's just sick or if it's kind of fun. It's a bit like a car wreck on the highway. I know I shouldn't be looking but I can't quite turn away.

It's sick, it's twisted, it's the internet on it's worst level and darn it, it's kind of fun. At least for a little while.

Forumwarz is a parody role-playing game that takes place on the internet - or at least the Forumwarz version of it. Your goal is to complete missions that are given to you through a mock up of GoogleTalk called Sentrillion.

Your first "friend" is ShallowEsophagus who begins giving you missions to pwn various forums by being a troll. Depending on the character type you are assigned at start up, you have tools like drooling on the keyboard or bashing your head on the keyboard that you can use to destroy forum threads and eventually, pwn a forum.

Future missions involve buying illegal software from the Russians, pwning more difficult forums and other internet oddness.

Completing missions gives you cash, called Flezz in game, and items that you can pawn or use in other missions. The game is NOT for those easily offended. It's crass, coarse and there are frequent f-bombs in the fake chat sessions.

This is also a game for a more mature audience as it requires you to shop at the Drugs R Fun store to get various concoctions to improve your playing, engage in certain cyber activities to get more Flezz and just generally use a more adult perspective.

If you can get past that, here are the more enjoyable and time-wasting aspects.

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