• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, August 17, 2009

Advance Internet has entered into an agreement with Microsoft Advertising that allows its sales organization to sell into the Redmond, Wash. media network using its ad-serving platform.

The deal gives Advance Internet's sales force access to offer behavioral targeting and retargeting services to local advertisers across the Microsoft Media Network. Cookies and browser tags support the retargeting technology, serving up ads that are related to merchandise that consumers may have an interest in. Perhaps they looked at the Nintendo Wii on Best Buys' Web site, clicked on the item to purchase it, but abandoned the online shopping cart by closing the browser window without first paying for the good.

The Microsoft Media Network gives local advertisers a wider hook -- reaching seven out of 10 U.S. Internet users, according to Peter Weinberger, president of Advance Internet. "This gives us the ability to increase the reach and frequency of potential customers for local advertisers," he says.

The deal also gives Advance Internet the ability to sell search keywords anywhere that Microsoft offers the service, Weinberger says. The two companies have also signed a content agreement, and Advance Internet will become a certified reseller of Microsoft's search products.

The new partnership follows and somewhat parallels the Yahoo Newspaper Consortium, but differs from it in one important respect, Ken Doctor wrote in a blog post on Content Bridges. Doctor says the main difference is that Advance Internet maintains its own ad platform powered by 24/7 RealMedia, which integrates with Microsoft. "Yahoo Newspaper Consortium members have fully adopted the Yahoo APT platform for their ad serving businesses, creating a closer, more exclusive relationship," he writes.

Weinberger says it's not clear whether the Microhoo deal announced late last month will impact Advance Internet's deal with Microsoft. "It's too early to tell, because it could be a year off before it's actually implemented," he says.

Microsoft also has tapped Advance Internet to participate in a committee that will help to design PubCenter, adCenter's technology.