Microsoft Search and Advertising revenue up 3% amid ad spend drop

Microsoft’s advertising business failed to perform as well as expected in the second quarter of 2023. Advertising and news search revenue rose by $86 million – an increase of 3% – including traffic acquisition costs that Microsoft pays to publishers. Meanwhile search and news advertising revenue – excluding traffic acquisition costs – was up by 8%. “Advertising spend was slightly lower than anticipated which impacted Search and news advertising and LinkedIn Marketing Solutions. For LinkedIn, we expect revenue growth in the low to mid-single digits.