Microsoft has acquired Israeli ad-targeting start-up YaData.
The price tag is somewhere between $20 million and $30 million, Israeli business daily Globes reported.
Microsoft's big bid for Yahoo
The acquisition, announced Wednesday, comes as Microsoft pursues its vastly larger acquisition target, Yahoo.
Microsoft said the YaData team will be folded into the software giant's existing research and development center in Herzliya, Israel, and will operate as part of its ad unit. YaData focuses on so-called behavioral targeting, which serves up advertising based on what users are doing at their computer.
"The purchase of YaData brings the Israeli R&D center into the field of online advertising, which is undoubtedly one of Microsoft's most strategic fields," said Moshe Lichtman, president of the Microsoft Israel R&D Center. "This is a great example of how Israeli technology has considerable value that is contributing to our most important areas of development."
"YaData fully believes in the potential of behavioral targeting to enhance the value of online advertising for publishers, advertisers and users," said Amir Peleg, chief executive officer of of the Israeli company, said in a statement. "Microsoft has the resources to unlock the potential in YaData's technology."
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