Verizon eyeing AOL takeover: reports
06 Jan 2015
AOL, which transformed itself, after its break up with Time Warner, and is set to see double-digit video ad growth for the first time since 2008, is reportedly being eyed by Verizon, Bloomberg reported yesterday.
Though no formal proposal had been made to AOL, and no agreement was imminent, sources point to AOL's video products as the source of Verizon's interest, the report said.
Specifically, Verizon has set it eyes on AOL's programmatic advertising technology, which allows advertisers to use software to buy and sell digital media in real time. With this, advertisers get much more control over where, and how, their ads run.
AOL acquired this feature from its acquisition og video advertising platform Adap.tv for $405 million in 2013 (See: AOL to buy video ad platform Adap.tv).
The purchase of Adapt.tv at the time seemed risky especially since it was one of AOL's largest acquisition ever, exceeding the $315 million it paid for Huffington Post in 2011.
AOL recently went even further into video, purchasing video management and exchange platform Vidible in December of 2014 underlining its focus on strengthening its video ad platform.