Mountain View, California — In a twisting turn of events to bolster its own ad sales efforts and cater its services to large publishers, Google has reportedly acquired online ad optimization company Admeld for $400 million, a company that specializes in ad optimization and helps ad sellers maximize the value of their inventory, according to multiple sources.
The deal, which was first reported by TechCrunch, mentioned “multiple unnamed sources,” would signifies Google’s latest effort to boost its business in the market for graphical, display ads, where it competes with old and new rivals alike including Yahoo Inc and social media network Facebook.
Google representatives said the company does not respond to “rumor or speculation.”
Interestingly, online advertising is far from a static sector, and this acquisition would only be further proof of that. The deal ads a missing bud to Google’s online ad infrastructure that powers much of online display advertising today, but could probably bring more regulatory scrutiny.
Admeld CEO Michael Barrett
Apart from all the hoopla, AdMeld is regarded as the best asset and will be able to add a much needed support to Google’s DoubleClick advertising network by helping publishers choose the best ads to display from potential buyers. Besides, AdMeld also provides other tools, like FireMeld, an in-browser ad monitoring tool.
The four-year-old AdMeld has relationships with The Weather Channel, Answers.com, FOX News, IDG TechNetwork, and large newspaper companies like The New York Times Company, Hearst, Tribune and Gannett and over 500 others.
Industry pundits have been speculating for a while that Google would certainly be adding an optimization functionality to its ad server, DoubleClick; but it was unclear whether the company would build the system internally or outright purchase a company to do so. Through DoubleClick, Google powers much of the world’s online display advertising, taking a tiny cut of the buy along the way.
AdMeld is led by CEO David Barrett, former head of digital sales at News Corp. Barrett helped MySpace achieve its revenue heyday, but took the fall when traffic and sales started to plunge.
With this deal, Google has acquired 12 companies since the beginning of the year, according to Tolman Geffs, co-president of Jordan Edmiston Group, a media investment bank. TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington first reported news of the deal.
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in New York City, AdMeld has raised $30 million in venture capital from Foundry Group, Norwest Venture Partners, Spark Capital and Time Warner Investments. The company has offices in San Francisco, London, Berlin and Toronto.