Leosghost - 11:03 am on Jul 3, 2012 (gmt 0)

Microsoft bought Aquantive for $6.3bn in cash in an attempt to catch rival Google in the race to increase revenues from search-related advertising.

The "write down" will probably wipe out Q 4 profits..

In addition to the writedown, Microsoft said its forecast for future growth and profitability at its online services arm - which includes the Bing search engine and MSN internet portal - were "lower than previous estimates".

[bbc.co.uk...]