Microsoft's online ad offerings will soon incorporate Ad-ID, the bar-code-like digital identifier that both the American Association of Advertising Agencies and The Association of National Advertisers endorse, writes MediaWeek (via MediaBuyerPlanner). Advertising executives see Ad-ID as a way to improve the tracking of all advertising outlets, including out of home.

Ad-ID was developed "to meet the needs of ANA members in an advertising environment that is rapidly evolving and becoming more complex every day," said Barbara Bacci Mirque, ANA EVP and Ad-ID co-CEO.

"Microsoft believes the future lies with identified, targeted, customized advertisements, and the best way to effectively track and measure results from advertising assets is by using Ad-ID, a universal code which provides end to end system connectivity," she said.