Eager to cut a deeper trench with its online ad business, Microsoft has opened its checkbook once again, this time to purchase YaData, an Israeli company specializing in behavioral targeting and customer segmentation technologies.

Along with the acquisition came the vague promise that YaData's technology would help Microsoft "provide more focused and relevant advertising."

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced a new feature called Engagement ROI, promising to give advertisers a better measure of how all their placements in a given campaign contribute to a customer's decision to make a purchase.

A Microsoft representative would not comment on how the acquisition specifically would improve Microsoft's Ad Center platform, providing only a statement saying that YaData's behavioral targeting technology "will help Microsoft provide better ROI for advertisers, higher yield for publishers and more relevant advertising for consumers through advanced targeting and optimization."

Details of the transaction were not disclosed, but the Israeli business paper Globes reported that the sale price was between $20 million and $30 million.