Microsoft buys Israeli ad targeting company YaData

The online advertising M&A frenzy continues.

Microsoft has acquired Israeli start-up YaData, a company that boasts that it offers advertisers technology allowing them to target customer segments with more focus and engagment. There’s a vague description of its technology at its site.

With advertisers coming online in every bigger numbers, there’s a new wave of technologies being built to serve them. Microsoft’s desire to acquire Yahoo would give Microsoft more established technologies to do that, but smaller, swifter start-ups like this one are offering more cutting-edge technologies. The Globes says the deal is estimated at between $20 million and $30 million.

The YaData team will join Microsoft’s R&D center in Herzliya and YaData’s technology will be distributed along with Microsoft’s current offerings.Here’s the release.