Microsoft is shutting down Massive, an in-game ad company it acquired for about $280 million in 2006, MediaWeek reports. Microsoft was trying to sell the company but it couldn't find any buyers.

In game advertising didn't end up being the big business Microsoft hoped. Massive was also doing work with EA at the time of the acquisition. EA ended up doing its own ad work and didn't need Massive.

Another problem -- the Xbox team didn't play nice with Massive, says MediaWeek:

...according to sources, Massive’s ad sales efforts were never fully integrated within the Xbox team. In fact, at the time of the acquisition, several Xbox executives were said to be against the deal, but ex-Microsoft executive Cory Van Arsdale and other members of the company’s business development team had pushed hard to buy Massive, citing the fast-growing interest in the gaming space among brands.