Microsoft in talks to acquire social media site
Posted on Jun 15, 2012 by equimedia
Microsoft is in talks to acquire its own social media site, with a deal expected to be brokered imminently.
The software giant is going after the social network Yammer, putting in an offer of more than $1 billion (£643.6 million).
Yammer was founded by David Sacks in 2008 and is used for private communications within companies.
It aims to improve business collaborations and enables people to share ideas instantly by connecting to the people they need to get work done.
According to the site, it is particularly useful for those in the marketing industry, as it allows people to create, coordinate and track marketing campaigns all in one place.
Currently, it is used by more than 200,000 companies, including automobile manufacturing heavy hitter Ford and eBay.
If Microsoft secures the site, it will join the company's already expansive range of business products.
It will also step up the rivalry with Salesforce.com, according to The Telegraph, which recently invested in their own social marketing tools.
The organisation paid $745 million for Buddy Media this month, in a bid to join the social media revolution.
Their largest purchase ever, Salesforce.com's investment allows them to promote their products on social sites, including Facebook and Twitter.
Marcel LeBrun, a senior vice president of Salesforce Radian6, commented: "Social media has caused the biggest transformation in marketing since the Mad Men era, causing chief marketing officers to completely re-think their strategies.
"By bringing together market leaders Radian6 and Buddy Media, we are doubling down on the Salesforce marketing cloud to provide chief marketing officers with the ability to manage the entire social marketing lifecycle."
Software makers Oracle Corp and SAP AG have also bought smaller social media specialists to target the growing number of consumers what exchange views on products online.
Both Microsoft and Yammer have thus far refused to comment on the possible sale.
