Founded in 1997, eQuantive was a company involved with the development of targeted online advertising solutions to help companies connect with their consumers. The company's services included helping advertisers target ads at their intended customers through its Atlas software, matching advertisers' ads inventory with distribution networks through Drivepm, and digital advertising placement and consulting with Avenue A/Razorfish. Microsoft purchased aQuantive in 1997 for $6.3 billion in cash in an attempt to catch rival Google Inc in the race for revenues from search-related display advertising. It was Microsoft's biggest acquisition at the time, exceeded only by its purchase of Skype for $8.5 billion in 2011.

On July 3, 2012, Microsoft admitted its largest acquisition of eQuantive was effectively worthless and took a $6.2 billion charge to write down the value of aQuantive.