With the unsolicited acquisition proposal for Yahoo at the beginning of February, Microsoft proved that it was more than willing to put its financial resources at work in order to catch up with Google. Microsoft's $44.5 billion marriage proposal is still valid, with the Redmond company working to erode Yahoo's initial negative answer into a "yes." But the Sunnyvale Internet giant is just the largest item on Microsoft's shopping list for the online search and advertising market. And the latest name to get scratched off that list is Rapt.

The Redmond company announced that, following the competition of the take-over, Rapt's advertising management solutions would be transitioned to its Atlas Publisher Suite. The new components would boost the offerings associated with the Microsoft's Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group and aimed at digital media publishers.

"Online publishers have a complex array of needs, and they require more attentive and sophisticated partners to help them solve these challenges. With this acquisition, we are uniquely positioned to help publishers succeed on all fronts. Our end-to-end solution will include workflow tools, ad package and delivery, turnkey distribution, content partnerships, and yield management and optimization," said Brian McAndrews, senior vice president of the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft.

According to Microsoft, the Atlas Publisher Suite, resulted via the acquisition of aQuantive in 2007 for $6 billion, will now feature an enhanced array of management capabilities focused on integrated assets, inventory, forecasting, yield and sales, on top of ad delivery and operations handling. Rapt's acquisition comes on the heels of the YaData purchase at the end of February, and of the EU Antitrust Commission's approval for Google's purchase of DoubleClick.

In terms of Google's monopoly on the advertising and online search markets, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said, at MIX08, that the Redmond company was not going anywhere. So far, the recipe that Microsoft is exercising to perfection if throwing money at the Google monopoly, and its best move has yet to be completed as long as Yahoo continues to say "no."

"We've got an aspiration about online. And in online, yes, it's Google, Google, Google, and we're in the game, and we're just the little engine that could. We're working away, we're working away, we're working away. It may be my last breath at Microsoft, but we're going to be there, and we're going to be working away building share," Ballmer stated.