Microsoft loss caps chaotic week
Microsoft Corp admitted its largest acquisition in the internet sector was effectively worthless and wiped out any profit for the last quarter, as it announced a $6.2bn (€4.9bn) charge to write down the value of an online advertising agency that it purchased five years ago.
The announcement came as a surprise, but did not shock investors, who had largely forgotten Microsoft’s purchase of aQuantive in 2007, which was initially expected to boost Microsoft’s online advertising revenue and counter rival Google’s purchase of the digital ad company DoubleClick.
