Microsoft acquires e-commerce advertising vendor PromoteIQ

PromoteIQ, a leading vendor marketing technology, providing targeted ad capabilities to its customers, has been acquired by Microsoft. It will keep its own branding and become a division within Microsoft Advertising.  No details of the terms have been provided at this time.

PromoteIQ is an automated product marketing platform that enables brand manufacturers to run sponsored ads on participating retailers’ e-commerce sites to generate visibility and revenue from those sites. The capability is similar to that of HookLogic, which was acquired in 2016 by Criteo.

Why we should care

The retail industry as we know it is changing. Microsoft has long been trying to find its place in the retail industry, and this acquisition might solidify that Microsoft its position there. Many online retailers are finding success by connecting with their customers through different marketing technology channels, but disparate tracking makes it difficult to track results efficiently. PromotIQ provides analytics for both the retailers and the advertisers.

Microsoft hopes that this partnership will help accelerate business for brands and manufacturers

Microsoft is eager to pair PromoteIQ’s targeted ad placement capabilities with its AI and machine learning technologies in hopes to accelerate digital business. The integration is expected to be completed later this year. The move could help Microsoft strengthen its positioning in the retail industry, and the two could potentially build powerful resources for online retailers.  

Microsoft Advertising offers product ad placements on Bing.com, but its limited scalability put its reach behind Google and Amazon.

Additionally, retail is among the verticals Microsoft Adverting is prioritizing. “PromoteIQ has pioneered the private marketplace approach to digital vendor marketing. PromoteIQ’s technology strategically complements Microsoft’s current 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,” said Rik van der Kooi, CVP, Microsoft Advertising.

Microsoft Advertising offers product ad placements on Bing.com, but its limited scalability put Microsoft behind Google and Amanzon.

More on the news: 

• Existing PromoteIQ clients include global retails such as Kroger, Kohl’s and Overstock.com.  
• Existing PromoteIQ customers will now benefit from resources and support from Microsoft.  

About The Author

Jennifer Cannon

Jennifer Videtta Cannon serves as Third Door Media's Senior Editor, covering topics from email marketing and analytics to CRM and project management. With over a decade of organizational digital marketing experience, she has overseen digital marketing operations for NHL franchises and held roles at tech companies including Salesforce, advising enterprise marketers on maximizing their martech capabilities. Jennifer formerly organized the Inbound Marketing Summit and holds a certificate in Digital Marketing Analytics from MIT Sloan School of Management.