Microsoft and CNBC Join Forces on Advertising Syndication

Microsoft and CNBC Join Forces on Advertising Syndication

CNBC audience provides increasingly strategic opportunities for advertisers.

REDMOND, Wash. and ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., Dec. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. and CNBC today announced a strategic alliance in which the two companies will collaborate to bring relevant advertising to the more than 2.6 million unique monthly visitors to CNBC.com. Microsoft will be the exclusive third-party provider of display and contextual advertising for CNBC.com and its global audience.

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"CNBC.com has a tremendous, high-quality audience that advertisers are eager to reach, and we're delighted to be providing our advertising technology and sales resources to such a widely respected organization," said Steve Berkowitz, senior vice president of the Online Services Group at Microsoft. "The addition of CNBC to our syndicated advertising partner sites will help the advertisers that work with Microsoft reach an even broader set of users in this highly strategic audience segment."

Advanced technology from Microsoft will help connect advertisers with CNBC.com users in more relevant, innovative ways through a combination of graphical ad placements and automated text-based advertisements targeted to content. Over time, the technology will enable the anonymous aggregation of user behavior.

"CNBC and Microsoft share a commitment to providing global customized advertising solutions to all our customers, and we are confident that this alliance will help us deliver on that commitment for the long term," said Mark Hoffman, president of CNBC. "CNBC's world-class customer service team and global sales force combined with Microsoft's innovative advertising and sales teams will provide the most relevant and useful advertising to our highly educated and affluent visitors."

The companies expect to begin execution of the agreement immediately, with contextual advertising appearing later this month. Execution on display advertising will begin in March 2008.

About CNBC

CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news, providing real-time financial market coverage and business information to approximately 400 million homes worldwide, including more than 95 million households in the United States and Canada. The network's Business Day programming (weekdays from 5:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and also includes reports from CNBC news bureaus worldwide. Additionally, CNBC viewers can manage their individual investment portfolios and gain additional in-depth information from on-air reports by accessing http://www.cnbc.com/.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

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CONTACT: Brian Steel of NBC Universal, +1-201-735-4778,
brian.steel@nbcuni.com; or Rapid Response Team of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide,
+1-503-443-7070, rrt@waggeneredstrom.com, for Microsoft

Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/
http://www.cnbc.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass on Microsoft's corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft's Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.

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