ValueClick Enters Competitive Online Shopping Market
Search targeted marketing company, ValueClick, has announced the purchase of price comparison website, Pricerunner, in a move which marks the American company’s first step in to the online shopping market.
The acquisition of Pricerunner expands ValueClick’s suite of performance-based online marketing products into the fast growing area of comparison shopping, which the company claims is the most commerce-oriented form of search targeted marketing.
Pricerunner currently operates its comparison shopping sites in the UK and Sweden and is planning to expand into France and Germany during 2004. The majority of the company’s revenue is gathered from retailer fees on a cost-per-click basis for online consumers delivered by Pricerunner to retailers’ websites.
The purchase of Pricerunner was made for $29 million (£15.8 million), giving the firm total control of the company, which returned revenues of approximately $3.6 million in the six-month period ending 30 April 2004.
Shopping comparison sites have become hot property recently, with search giant Yahoo! splashing out £318 million on the acquisition of price comparison site Kelkoo. The purchase was designed to extend Yahoo!’s online presence to include the site’s shopping service and referral system, bolstering its already successful ‘Yahoo! Shopping’ directory of online stores (see Yahoo! Acquires Shopping Site Kelkoo For £318 million).
The acquisition of Pricerunner could prove immensely profitable for ValueClick, as initial forecasts suggest that Yahoo! will gain almost five million extra visitors per month as a result of its purchase of Kelkoo (see Yahoo Set For Massive Boost With Kelkoo Deal).
Earlier this year ValueClick claimed a first in online advertising with the launch of new technology that allows consumers to purchase products within online ads. The technology comprises a secure skyscraper that guarantees online consumers a risk-free buying experience covering the entire purchase process from credit card checking through to integration with payment service providers (see New Format Could Revolutionise Online Advertising).
ValueClick: 020 7751 0555 www.valueclick.com
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