ClickZ reports Digg has dropped Microsoft as the exclusive ad provider for the site. Microsoft ads started appearing on Digg in October 2007 after Digg and Microsoft made the deal in July.

Prior, Digg used Google AdSense ads to monetize the site. Then Digg dropped Google for Microsoft ads and now, it appears Digg will sell ads directly, and continue to use Microsoft ads for open inventory. The Digg/Microsoft partnership was suppose to last until the summer 2010. Bring the ad management in house will allow Digg to explore more revenue models and create custom ads, that are outside of the IAB standards.

Related Topics: Microsoft: adCenter Content Ads | Microsoft: Partnerships | Search Engines: Digg

About The Author: Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here. For more background information on Barry, see his full bio over here. See more articles by Barry Schwartz