• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, August 6, 2007

IAC/InterActiveCorp has tapped aQuantive's Atlas to provide ad-serving technology for several of its sites, including Match.com, Citysearch and Evite. Through the deal, Atlas gains access to 60 million additional monthly unique users.

"Two key objectives drove our partnership selection," said Rich Stalzer, president, IAC Advertising Solutions. "One, we needed to consolidate IAC Web properties onto a single media ad serving platform so that advertisers could achieve reach and frequency efficiencies across IAC's businesses. Two, we sought to create enhanced targeting capabilities for advertisers by effectively segmenting our extensive user base."

Atlas' platform will provide IAC's sites with additional tools to target ad campaigns against their specific audience segments, along with the ability to scale campaigns internationally and across various platforms including video and mobile.

Atlas' AdManager service sets itself apart with "enhanced flexibility, inventory forecasting and simplified third party integration," according to Karl Siebrecht, Atlas president.

Atlas is considered key to Microsoft's recent agreement to acquire the online ad conglomerate aQuantive for $6 billion.

IAC's media and ad segment--including Ask.com, Citysearch, and Evite--saw revenue grow 33% in the second quarter to $174 million from $131.3 million a year earlier, the media conglomerate reported last week. The gain was attributed to a smaller operating loss of $10.7 million versus $11.3 million the year before, but still lagged behind last quarter's 43% revenue boost for the segment.