Microsoft is getting in on the internet advertising act by spending $6 billion acquiring aQuantive, a digital marketing firm.
The move is seen as an attempt by the firm to catch up with search engine giants like Google and Yahoo! which currently dominate the market.
Steve Ballmer, chief executive of Microsoft, said: "The advertising industry is evolving and growing at an incredible pace, moving increasingly toward online IP-served (internet protocol) platforms, which dramatically increase the importance of software for this industry."
Particular pressure has been put on the company after its rivals also began to expand their reach in this area.
AOL recently bought Third Screen Media and Google spent $3.1 billion on DoubleClick.
The hefty price that Microsoft was willing to pay for the acquisition has prompted discussion from those within the industry.
Toan Tran, a Morningstar analyst, said: "There had to have been some desperation for Microsoft to pay the price that it did.
"Sometimes, I am worried that Microsoft has Google-tunnel vision. It's so worried what Google is doing that it becomes way too reactionary."
