Washington, Mar 2 (IANS/EFE): Facebook Inc. announced that it has reached a deal with Microsoft Corp. to acquire its Atlas Advertiser Suite, a service that enables marketers and agencies to get the most out of their online advertising.

"We're pleased to announce that we have agreed to acquire the Atlas Advertiser Suite from Microsoft," Facebook said in a blog entry Thursday, without disclosing the terms of the deal.

The purchase of Atlas, a set of tools that help companies choose the placement of their ads on web sites and monitor their effectiveness, is part of Facebook's bid to battle Google for market share in the online display-ad business.

Market research company eMarketer Inc. forecasts that Google and Facebook will have 18 percent and 15 percent shares of the US market for display ads, respectively, this year.

"Atlas is a leader in campaign management and measurement for marketers and agencies. We believe this acquisition will benefit both marketers and users," the blog post said.

"If marketers and agencies can get a holistic view of campaign performance, they will be able to do a much better job of making sure the right messages get in front of the right people at the right time. Atlas has built capabilities that allow for this kind of measurement," Facebook added.