MarketingVOX: A high-profile deal for Microsoft's adCenter: Microsoft will provide advertising for social-networking site Facebook.

Using its online advertising platform and other in-house technology and services, Microsoft will provide banner ads and sponsored links to Facebook, the companies announced late Tuesday, reports the Associated Press. Financial terms of the deal - expected to run through mid-2009 - were not disclosed. The ads will start appearing by early fall.

Microsoft officially launched adCenter in May to compete with Google and Yahoo. Earlier this month, Google struck a $900 million advertising deal with top social-networking site and Facebook rival MySpace.

The Facebook deal is likely to be worth much less - a "consolation prize," according to an analyst - with Facebook claiming 9 million registered users compared with MySpace's 100 million, points out the Guardian (U.K.).

Advertising group IPG took a 0.5 percent stake in Facebook earlier this year.

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