Facebook; Windows of Opportunity for Microsoft

Facebook and Microsoft today announced a deal that will concrete the social networking site's number one position during the current round of new funding.

Software goliath Microsoft has signed on to invest $240 million into the social networking portal – currently the ninth most visited website in the US (according to Hitwise).

Now valued at $15 billion, Facebook and Microsoft collectively plan a joint expansion on their existing advertising relationship, which will see Microsoft as the exclusive third-party advertising platform partner for Facebook.

Statistics illustrate 59% of Facebook’s users are outside the United States. Microsoft plans to expand Facebook advertising globally - selling products targeted to niche demographics and communities.

With more than 49 million users, combined with Microsoft’s experience in developing digital environments and software, the partnership has the capability of building a globally vibrant, technologically advanced social networking platform.

In a deal that see’s users as the biggest winners – Experts predict Microsoft could offer Facebook its technology and its associations with advertisers - allowing Facebook to prosper as an organisation.

With approximately 250,000 new users registering each day, Facebook remains one of the most-trafficked sites on the web and may be seen to represent the changing face of the social networking era – which is no longer YourSpace.

Rumors of the deal had been appearing in news and blog sites over recent months, and it’s believed Google also made an offer. Senior industry executives blogging online allege that Facebook recently turned down an offer of $750 million and were hoping to gain as much as $2 billion in a sale.