Acquisio buys search optimization company ScienceOps

Paid search management company Acquisio has acquired software developer ScienceOps, whose technology optimizes the performance of Google AdWords campaigns. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

ScienceOps' AdMetrica technology helps optimize conversions generated by the Google Display Network, which shows AdWords paid-search ads on nonsearch engine sites based on site content and audience.

Acquisio said in a statement the transaction should be able to boost its offerings to companies that manage search, social and display campaigns.

http://www.btobonline.com/article/20120813/SEARCH04/308139995/acquisio-buys-search-optimization-company-scienceops?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=editorial&utm_campaign=dailyclickthroughs

Gannett buys social-media ad company Blinq Media

Gannett, parent of USA TODAY, said Tuesday that it has acquired Blinq Media, a company that creates social-media advertising campaigns for ad agencies and corporate clients.

And Blinq's "BAM 2.0" technology handles ad planning by analyzing clients' target audience members' social-media profile, including their friends, "likes" and "fan pages."

With such analytical data, Blinq and Gannett will be able to deliver relevant content, says Vikram Sharma, CEO of Gannett Digital Marketing Services, which will run Blinq as a separate unit under its umbrella. That may include simply ads that appear on the right side of a Facebook news feed page or could be content delivered in the form of "sponsored stories," which often contain videos or polls.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/story/2012-08-21/gannett-acquires-blinq-media/57191320/1

EPrize Acquired by Private-Equity Firm Catterton Partners

Digital promotion agency ePrize today announced that it has been acquired by Catterton Partners, a consumer-focused private-equity firm. Based in Detroit, ePrize specializes in mobile, social-media and web campaigns, promotions and sweepstakes for clients such as AT&T, Coca Cola, The Gap, and Procter & Gamble. The investment will be used to accelerate the agency's overall growth, and will focus specifically on developing its mobile and social business.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. EPrize ranked as the country's No. 17 promotion agency in 2011, according to Ad Age DataCenter. It reported revenue of $53.8 million in last year, up 28.0% from 2010. At the end of 2011, ePrize had 336 employees in its Detroit, Chicago, Seattle, New York and Los Angeles offices.

EPrize was founded in 1999 by Josh Linkner. The company raised $11 million in two rounds of financing in 1999 and 2001 and received a $32 million investment in 2006. It also made two acquisitions of its own in the last year, picking up a division of Apollo Data Technologies in July 2011, and Cellit, a mobile marketing company, in January 2012.

http://adage.com/article/digital/eprize-acquired-private-equity-firm-catterton-partners/236801/

Google to Buy Social Agency Wildfire Interactive for $250 Million

Google agreed to buy social agency Wildfire Interactive for about $250 million plus performance incentives, the latest in a string of deals as advertising and enterprise giants look to add social to their core offerings.

Founded in 2008 with a seed grant from Facebook's fbFund and Gary Vaynerchuk, Wildfire has raised a little more than $14 million and has counted Virgin, Sony, Ogilvy, Verizon, Unilever and Amazon as clients. Co-founders Victoria Ransom and Alain Chuard will join Google as part of the deal.

http://adage.com/article/digital/google-buy-social-agency-wildfire-interactive-250-million/236415/?utm_source=digital_email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=adage