AOL Buys Targeted Ad Company In $300m Deal
AOL has acquired online advertising company Quigo, in a deal that could be worth over $300 million, according to AOL chairman and CEO Randy Falco, who was speaking at yesterday’s IAB Engage 2007 conference in London.
Quigo has developed online advertising technology that makes it easier for people to receive targeted ads. Falco said that the acquisition means AOL customers would have more choice over the ads they receive.
The purchase follows AOL’s $275 million acquisition of ad targeting firm Tacoda earlier this year and subsequent ad targeting deals with Revenue Science and Wunderloop.
Falco said that there is “a pent-up aggression” in the digital sector for analytics and video and that AOL intended to increase its focus on these areas. He also called for the online industry to work together to make life easier for advertisers.
He added that there is too much friction in the buying process in online and said that the IAB can help in setting industry standards.
“Online is getting increasingly complex and we need to fix this to make it easier to do business. There are not enough standards in display advertising. We need to have common display ad sizes. That’s something the IAB can help with,” he said.
Falco remarked that Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick (see Media In The City: GCap Reports Revenue Decline) and Microsoft’s purchase of aQuantive was a taste of things to come in the sector.
“The sustainable growth of ad platforms will be the story of the web in the next few years,” he said.
He also stressed the potential of video online. “Finding the next 30-second spot on the web will provoke a rush of money into the internet space,” he predicted.
Falco also forecast that ad networks are the way ahead, predicting that by 2011 some 23% of all page views will be booked via ad networks. “The trend towards networks is huge,” he said. “Agencies and marketers will reach the web via networks.”
He added: “The online landscape is no longer about pop-up ads and banners but highly creative work and search marketing. The internet is a powerful branding medium and online advertising is diversifying.”
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