Xandr

Xandr is a marketplace for selling and buying advertising. The platform connects advertisers, publishers and brands. The company also offers various marketing tools.

Xandr is based on the assets of AppNexus, a company purchased by telecommunications operator AT&T, which used this deal in an attempt to create a national marketplace in the United States to sell TV advertising.

History

2021: Microsoft bought Xandr

On December 21, 2021, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Xandr, but did not disclose the cost and other terms of the transaction. The seller of the platform was AT & T.

Previously, Microsoft for several years collaborated with Xandr, using the company's tools for monetizing advertising. After the purchase of the startup, Microsoft plans to use its technologies to expand its business in the field of Digital Signage. At the same time, Xandr will continue to work with advertisers around the world.

Microsoft bought a marketplace selling Xandr ads

The deal will help us accelerate the provision of Digital Signage solutions and retail media channels, turning Digital Signage into a market that respects consumers' privacy preferences, understands publishers' relations with consumers and helps advertisers achieve their goals, "Microsoft said in a press release.

The purchase of Xandr expands Microsoft's advertising business towards a new area - TV ads. For Xandr, this deal is also potentially beneficial: the company can increase software sales by attracting large Microsoft corporate customers.

Sources familiar with the situation told Axios that the Xandr platform brought AT&T about $300-380 million per year. According to the interlocutors of the publication, the company is unprofitable - monetary losses are measured at $50-90 million per year.

It is noted that AT&T has been looking for a buyer for Xandr for more than a year, after it abandoned its idea of ​ ​ becoming a major player in the field of online advertising, dominated by Google and Facebook.^[1]

Notes