Microsoft Wins Facebook Ad Deal, Pays $240M For 1.6 Percent Stake

Redmond, Wash. (AHN) - Microsoft's Wednesday $240 million investment in second-place social networking site Facebook makes the 3 1/2-year-old company worth $15 billion, reports said Thursday.

The move gives Microsoft a new venue for selling online advertising, plus deprives Google of a ready-made social networking service, an area lacking by the Internet giant, according to the AP.

Despite being second to MySpace, Facebook is growing at a faster pace. In September, MySpace grew at 23 percent compared to a year ago. However, Facebook saw 129 percent growth in the same period, according to research firm comScore.