Steve Balmer (CEO of Microsoft) was recently in town (Kuala Lumpur) to discuss partnerships and advertisements with online business in Malaysia. TechCentral reports the following::

Advertisements on the Web will be “smarter” and even more targeted in the near future, thanks to the ever improving Internet delivery technologies, said software giant Microsoft Corp. 

Its chief executive officer Steve Balmer believes there will be no more “dumb adverts” such as banners and pop-ups. 

Instead, he said, advertisements on the Web will target each individual user with what he or she is interested in, and that it would be even better than what is experienced now. 

Currently, advertisements on the Web are tied in to Internet search technologies; whenever a user searches for a particular subject or topic, advertisements on a similar or related service or product are displayed on the results page.

Balmer also said the next-generation ads would not only be for computers but cellphones and other portable gadgets, as well as Internet Protocol TV services – i.e. television via the Web – too. 

He was in the country for a day last week to meet with government officials. Microsoft Malaysia has announced that it is committing more funding to help stimulate the local software economy.  However, it declined to say how much more it would committing. It currently donates RM26mil a year to this initiative.