Amazon to Acquire Ad-Serving Company Sizmek
With the increase in technology over the years has come the importance of digital marketing. Digital marketing has become a necessity for companies and brands all over the world, including Amazon. With its own advertising unit, Amazon Advertising, the company has been heavily involved in marketing online for years. Because the international powerhouse never stops expanding, Amazon continues to dive deeper into the digital marketing world. On Friday, May 31, the company announced its plans to purchase Sizmek Ad Server and Sizmek Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO).
Sezmek Inc. is an Austin-based ad-serving technology company. It provides tools to help personalize ads using specific data. Sizmek’s Ad Server assists advertisers in placing spots around the internet to measure their effectiveness. The company filed for bankruptcy in March of this year and began selling off business parts as a result. At the time, their assets were worth between $100 and $500 million. They have already sold pieces to another corporation but was still looking for buyers. This is where Amazon stepped in.
“Sizmek and Amazon Advertising have many mutual customers, so we know how valued these proven solutions are to their customer base,” Amazon Advertising’s press release stated to the public. “Sizmek has been searching for a buyer for Sizmek Ad Server and Sizmek DCO, and we are both committed to continuing serving their customers at the high standards they’ve come to expect.”
With this deal, Amazon will acquire an ad server to place different advertisements on the web. In addition to this, it will give Amazon dynamic creative, an industry term for ads that are tailored to a consumer’s data. For example, ads can be tailored to an individual depending on their geographical region. This allows marketers to use the data, including what people buy and what they search for. In turn, this enables them to target consumers with ads in ways they were not able to do before. This combination has the potential to make Amazon a leader in the digital marketing industry, competing with Google.
The deal with Sizmek comes during amazon’s year of growth in the digital marketing industry. Google currently leads the market with Google’s Market Platform, assisting marketers in placing and measuring ads as well. Sizmek’s Ad Server is seen as competition with Google, as they are adept in the same practice.
Research firm eMarketer studied Amazon’s digital marketing presence and made projections for the following year. The firm believes Amazon Advertising will steal market share from Google within 2019. eMarketer projects Amazon to claim 8.8 percent of all digital ad spending within the year, as Google is expected to lose 1 percentage point of market share.
The finances behind the deal have not yet been disclosed to the public. Once the deal is officially closed, both Sizmek units are planned to operate separately from Amazon Advertising. However, they will eventually be absorbed by the company.
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