Warc, 23 July 2014
SAN FRANCISCO: Internet giant Yahoo has confirmed that it is
acquiring Flurry, an app analytics firm, in a move that could bolster its
position in a mobile advertising market that is dominated by Google and
Facebook.
Although the two companies have not disclosed the purchase
price, it is thought Yahoo paid between $200m and $300m, making it one of
Yahoo's largest acquisitions since it bought micro-blog platform Tumblr in
2012, the BBC reported.
“With Yahoo, we will have access to more resources to speed
up the delivery of great products that can help app developers build better
apps, reach the right users, and explore new revenue opportunities,” said Simon
Khalaf, chief executive of Flurry.
Yahoo's acquisition follows similar moves by its internet
competitors to buy mobile advertising technology firms.
Earlier this year, Facebook acquired LiveRail, a start-up
that places more relevant ads in videos on digital platforms, while Twitter has
bought the MoPub mobile advertising exchange.
Yahoo and Flurry “can now start to battle Facebook and
Google for mobile ad dollars,” said Raj Aggarwal, CEO of app analytics firm
Localytics, in comments reported by Forbes.
The key is in bringing one of the world's largest content
companies and mobile ad networks together to connect inventory and demand, he
added.
Mobile ad spending in the US is set to grow by more than 80%
this year, taking it to nearly 10% of all media ad spending, according to
recent estimates from research firm eMarketer.
Most of the rise in digital ad spending will benefit Google
and Facebook, which together account for roughly half of digital ad revenues,
eMarketer said.
Yahoo's acquisition also comes just a week after it reported
a 3% year-on-year fall in revenue to $1.04bn for Q2 2014.
The company's digital ad revenue fell 7% in the second
quarter to $394m, minus traffic costs, down from $423m during the same period
last year.
Data sourced from BBC, Forbes, eMarketer, Fortune;
additional content by Warc
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