Digital media giant AOL, clearly focused on the future of online video advertising, has just snapped up Vidible in a deal worth a reported US$50m.
Having already bought Adap.tv, Convertro and 5Min, AOL’s business plan seems clear – video advertising is key, time to get everyone on board.
The latest acquisition of Vidible – an independent cross-screen video management and exchange platform for buyers and sellers of digital media – “further extends AOL’s leadership position in video content management and syndication, and creates the most comprehensive set of video content management tools in the marketplace for creators and publishers.”
With this latest acquisition, AOL hopes to extend its video stack with new video content management oils, increase availability and management premium of video via a self-serve platform and add a video content exchange that fits with its existing monitisation platforms.
“AOL is focused on transforming the digital media environment by creating an open marketplace for video,” said Dermot McCormack, president of AOL video and studios.
“We are thrilled to welcome the Vidible team to AOL as we accelerate our mission of providing our partners the platform and tools they need to better create, curate, syndicate and monetize their content across the globe. “
Of course AOL are not the only major player looking to capitalise on other smaller companies’ expertise, as Yahoo! recently snapped up BrightRoll, a leading programmatic video advertising platform, for US$640m.
“Adtech has seen a huge amount of investment and startup activity … which means it’s a sector ripe for the kind of consolidation that we’re seeing today,” said John Koetsier, the vice president of product for VentureBeat’s VB Insight.
“In our studies, video ads are at or near the top in terms of both user engagement and monetization. That means it’s a hot space that, along with native ads, is growing quickly,” Koetsier added.
