Atlas on Facebook is already being used by a number of advertisers, the company said. Facebook also plans to upgrade the platform with a system for measurement of the effectiveness of advertising and a new interface. Also, although it is never mentioned, Facebook with this move provided a way to run ads on other sites, thus becoming a direct competitor to Google. Facebook's goal is to make Atlas the smartest and most effective platform to deliver ads, manage and measure the impact of campaigns, they said in company’s press release.

According to the statement, which comes from Microsoft, the sale of Atlas is part of a strategy to increase focus on the model of services and devices. The value of the acquisition has not been announced, but analysts believe it is not more than 100 million dollars.

[Ed – Facebook is potentially heading for some problems here. Atlas is not the most efficient platform out there; it is one of the reasons that Microsoft was looking to get rid of it. We also know that Facebook does not really understand user preferences or how to offer something to users. They have always had the mindset of simply forcing things down their user’s throats. If they continue on their pattern we have a feeling that this venture will fail and fail fairly badly too.]

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