Microsoft has purchased Waltham, Massachusetts-based Navic Systems, which complies data from cable boxes in order for advertisers to target based on demographics and geography. Microsoft wants to build an Internet dashboard to allow marketers to purchase online display, search, videogame and TV advertising all in one place. Mostly, Microsoft wants to do this because Google, which hired NBC executive Michael Steib to sell the idea to broadcasters, wants to do this. Google cofounder Sergey Brin likes to say Google will bring the accountability of online advertising to television ad-buying, but we're not sure there are enough metrics or market demand for that to happen. TV advertisers and their agency-buyers seem to agree with us. Last we heard, only about 200 actually use Google's product.(Photo by videocrab)

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