Microsoft yesterday announced an agreement to acquire AdECN, Inc., a California-based advertising exchange platform firm. Financial terms have not yet been disclosed.

AdECN provides technology serving as a hub for advertisers to buy and sell display advertising in a real-time auction setting. This deal will help also Microsoft develop itws search and display advertising platform, and advertisers and publishers achieve greatest ROI on their digital ad investments.

Kevin Johnson, president of Platforms and Services Division at Microsoft, said, “Both Microsoft and AdECN have a deep commitment to creating the technologies and platforms that enable advertisers and publishers to maximize their ROI in the digital marketplace. We believe the addition of AdECN to the Microsoft portfolio is a perfect fit and will create more efficiency for the industry by forming a more robust marketplace between advertisers and publishers, aggregating more supply and demand. This is good for the whole advertising industry.”

Meanwhile, William Urschel, founder and chief executive officer of AdECN talked about this deal, “Joining forces with Microsoft will provide the capital and resources to enable AdECN to scale the exchange at a much faster pace, making it more attractive to the advertising networks and other traffic aggregators looking to better serve their advertisers and publishers. All of us here are thrilled to join a team that shares our commitment to neutrality for the exchange and also believes that creating liquidity and intelligently matching supply and demand will be two of the most important roles for a technology provider to play in this rapidly growing and evolving market.”

The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first half of Microsoft's next fiscal year. AdECN will remain at the current location, Santa Barbara, Calif. as part of Online Services Business of Microsoft.