AdCenter Analytics had been in beta and is based on Web analytics tools for online marketers and publishers developed by DeepMatrix, a company Microsoft bought in 2006.

Existing customers can keep using the service through the end of the year, at which time technical support will end and the service will be shut down, adCenter Community Manager Mel Carson said in a . Customers will need to export their data before the Dec. 31 cut-off date to avoid losing it.

He didn't explicitly say whether Microsoft is working on a similar offering to replace it, and Microsoft declined to clarify that. Addressing the beta users of the service, Carson wrote: "You've helped us work towards making an informed decision about building a general Web analytics solution, and despite the end of life plan, the beta was very much a success. It enabled us to confidently determine that we can be of most value to advertisers and publishers by offering a tailored solution that meets more specialized needs."

A Microsoft employee in the Advertising Platform group who used to work in adCenter Analytics implied that a similar standalone product won't be forthcoming. "This announcement reflects a conclusion that we've come to that, for us, providing analytics in the form of a standalone tool like ACA doesn't present the best value or utility for our customers," Ian Thomas, director of yield business intelligence product management, wrote on his personal . "Of course, it's not my place to be making ad hoc pronouncements about our analytics product strategy, especially not at a moment like this; so I've probably said enough already," he cautioned.

On an unofficial , adCenter Analytics users had been looking for hints about when Microsoft might move the product out of beta.