Rapt is used by several top Web publishers to manage ad-inventory sales. It forecasts how much a publisher can get for ad placements, and whether they should sell the spots themselves or use ad networks. The company works with publishers like CNET Networks, Dow Jones and The New York Times. Rapt also helps Microsoft manage inventory on its own sites.

Rapt will be rolled into the Atlas Publisher Suite within the aQuantive business (which Microsoft bought for $6 billion last May). Rapt, with 85 employees, is a small deal that helps Microsoft fill out its technology checklist. With the recent conclusion of Google-DoubleClick deal, it looks like the massive consolidation of pure-play advertising deals is trickling down. (Quigo, bought by AOL for more than $300 million, was the last major exit). We’ll see more small technology acquisitions like this one, but for the big ad networks that didn’t get bought by now, their chances of a big payday going into a recession are slim.

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YaData will be folded into Microsoft’s Israeli R&D center in Herzliya, Israel and its product will be sold through Microsoft’s Advertiser and Publisher Solutions group. Maybe this will help Microsoft do some of that mysterious “engagement mapping” it’s been talking about. From the press release:

YaData’s technology will enable Microsoft to provide its advertisers with richer targeting capabilities so they can connect with their audience in more efficient and engaging ways, at the same time providing its customers more relevant and focused ads.

YaData’s technology will be integrated into Microsoft’s Advertiser and Publisher Solutions group and will add advanced behavioral targeting tools and capabilities to Microsoft’s online advertising platform. The addition of YaData’s technology will help Microsoft’s efforts to improve advertisers’ ROI and to provide more focused and relevant advertising, tailored to specific client needs.

The company, which was founded in 2005, raised a $4 million series A financing from Giza Venture Capital and Ofer Hi-tech. And back in 2006—you’ve got to love this—it raised a seed round from Oracle. Larry Ellison, the check from Microsoft is in the mail.

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