Australian Hyro benefits from Microsoft buy

Australian-based digital services company, Hyro, said it will benefit from Microsoft’s aQuantive acquisition as the purchase will generate awareness about the importance of connecting online advertising to business systems.

“It’s interesting to note what Microsoft didn’t buy,” Hyro CEO, Richard Lord, told ITnews.

“They didn’t buy a search engine company, or an advertising agency. They didn’t even try to build digital services capabilities themselves. What they bought is a company that brings together marketing and technology to deliver outcomes to clients, which enforces a view we’ve always had that in this day and age, organisations need to understand this fusion.”

Microsoft announced last week that it would pay US$6 billion (A$7.2 billion) for the Seattle-based online advertising firm – the figure is an 85 per cent premium on the company’s then market value.

Lord says the premium price paid for the company and the transaction itself represent a wider acceptance of Hyro’s position in the market. Lord anticipates the sale will spike interest in digital services, making the segment larger and more competitive.

“One of the world’s largest technology companies buying an online advertising company to give customers the ability to advertise online is huge. It’s a fusion of marketing and technology. Microsoft delivers the platforms and aQuantive markets them.

“Acquiring the company signals a big step. No longer can Microsoft’s customers separate the promotion of the company’s products and services from the technologies they use to deliver the products and services they offer.

“There’s a trend to oversimplify online advertising, motivated by the fact that most ad companies don’t have the capability to deliver end-to-end service. If ever there was a loud ringing of the bells that the online advertising market is just as important as other sorts of marketing, it is here.”