Microsoft unhooks Razorfish

FRESH FROM ITS online advertising deal with Yahoo, Microsoft has tipped floundering digital advertising company, Razorfish, back out of its keep-net, selling it off to French ad company Publicis Groupe.

Microsoft hooked Razorfish when it acquired aQuantive for $6 billion in 2007. Publicis is paying $530 million for Razorfish.

With the troublesome business of running ads on MSN now gone, maybe the Vole will focus on core functions like creating operating systems and productivity apps that are easy to use and install.

Razorfish will still work with Microsoft in one beguiling capacity or another as those involved so elequently explained.

"We look forward to continuing to work with Razorfish as one of our agencies, and we're confident that as part of Publicis Groupe, Razorfish will build on its success to date in the digital advertising industry," said shy and retiring Steve Ballmer without really saying anything.

Continuing the waffle, Publicis chairman and chief exec Maurice Levy, added, "We are building on the strategic relationship with Microsoft that we announced in June to explore ways to work together to help deliver innovative online solutions to a broad spectrum of brand marketers."

Clear? µ