Microsoft has acquired PromoteIQ, a technology company for assisting retailers to incorporate ads into their online storefronts.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Some retailers like Walgreens and Walmart have selected Microsoft for their public cloud needs.
Some of the clients of PromoteIQ include Kroger, Kohl’s, Office Depot, B&H Photo, Overstock.com, among others. New York-based PromoteIQ will maintain its brand and become a division within Microsoft Advertising.
Microsoft has selected retail as a key industry for its sellers and marketers to focus on, CNBC reported.
Microsoft said in its annual report that search advertising revenue increased $184 million or 10% for the quarter ended June 30, 2019. Search advertising revenue, excluding traffic acquisition costs, increased 9 percent, driven by higher revenue per search.
Microsoft said search advertising represented almost 9 percent of revenue in Microsoft’s 2019 fiscal year, which ended on June 30.
“PromoteIQ’s technology complements Microsoft’s retail advertising offerings, and together, we can enable retailers with a portfolio of technology solutions to modernize their e-commerce platforms and maximize their monetization opportunity,” Rik van der Kooi, corporate vice president for Microsoft advertising, wrote in a blog post on Monday.
The company behind PromoteIQ, Spotfront, was founded in 2012. PromoteIQ is based in New York and has about 40 employees listed on LinkedIn.