Microsoft to take $6.2B charge for ad business - USA TODAY

REDMOND, Washington (AP) â€" Microsoft is absorbing a $6.2 billion charge to reflect its inability to produce more revenue from an online ad service that it bought nearly five years ago.

• 

  Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

  Microsoft on Monday said it would take a $6.2 billion charge for its online advertising business.

Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

Microsoft on Monday said it would take a $6.2 billion charge for its online advertising business.

The non-cash charge announced Monday could saddle Microsoft with a loss for its fiscal fourth quarter ending in June. Analysts polled by FactSet had predicted Microsoft would earn about $5.3 billion for the period. Microsoft is scheduled to release its latest quarterly results on July 19.

The software maker blamed the setback primarily on the disappointing performance of aQuantive, an online advertising service that it bought in 2007 for $6.3 billion. It was the most expensive acquisition in the company's 37-year history at the time, surpassed only by the $8.5 billion purchase of Skype last year.

The charge represents Microsoft's sobering acknowledgement that aQuantive didn't increase the company's online advertising revenue as much as management had anticipated.

Since it bought aQuantive, Microsoft's online division has reported losses totaling nearly $9 billion.

The disheartening performance comes as Internet search leader Google is expanding its online ad empire, despite Microsoft's attempts to lure away Web surfers and marketers.

Google's success has flowed, in part, from its $3.2 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, an online ad service that used to compete against aQuantive. Google last year earned $9.7 billion on nearly $38 billion in revenue, with most of the money coming from online ads.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines.