Consolidation continues to sweep online advertising networks. In April Cox Enterprises Inc. bought Adify Corp., a provider of industry-focused tech for ad networks, for $300 million. Today come reports that Glam Media Inc., the woman-focused Web site, is an acquisition target. According to VentureBeat, the company has received a $1.3 billion offer from an unnamed buyer, though reports indicate the company is unlikely to accept the offer.
Glam in February raised $84.6 million in a Series D funding round that included $20 million in debt financing. Among its investors are Hubert Burda Media Holding GmbH & Co., GLG Partners LP, Duff Ackerman & Goodrich LLC, Accel Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Walden Ventures Capital.
Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo! Inc. last year helped kick off the online ad buying binge, gobbling up DoubleClick, aQuantive and Right Media, among others. As the usual M&A pattern exerts itself, smaller ad network competitors are also doing deals, driven by enormous traffic growth. Adknowledge, a roughly one-year-old network backed by Technology Crossover Ventures, as of late 2007 was claiming more than 1 billion impressions per month. It
bought Cubics Inc., a Facebook-focused network in December for undisclosed terms. Venture capital investment in the ad networks has also been vigorous, with startups such
Adconion Media Group and
Yardbarker Inc. raising huge rounds in recent months.
-- David Shabelman
See April 29 post from Corporate Dealmaker
See May 28 story from VentureBeat
See Feb. 28 story from Tech Confidential
See May 28 post from The Inquisitr
See May 29 press release from Glam Media
See December 2007 post from Tech Confidential
See March 6 post on Adconion funding from Tech Confidential
See April 3 post on Yardbarker funding from Tech Confidential
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