Consolidation in the mobile ad network space appears to be accelerating, as display advertising and lead gen provider ValueClick is acquiring Greystripe, Techcrunch reports, citing an unidentified source. Neither ValueClick (NSDQ: VCLK) nor Greystripe responded to messages seeking comment.
While mobile ads are still a fraction of the total $26 billion online ad market in the U.S., along with video, it’s one of the fastest growing parts of the space. eMarketer has predicted that U.S. mobile ad spending will break the $1 billion mark this year, up 48 percent from 2010.
See more of our latest Advertising coverage
or add an alert for future coverage of Advertising.
With that significant increase in revenues, a number of mobile ad networks have been looking to buy companies that are rivals or can offer a complementary service. Mobile ad net deals have included xAD‘s recent purchase of fellow local mobile ad company go2 Media.
There have also been a few noteworthy fundings the past few months, such as mobile analytics and rich media provider Celtra’s $5 million first round.
It’s natural for ValueClick to expand its services into mobile with an acquisition like San Francisco-based Greystripe. For one thing, Greystripe is one of largest independent ad networks, along with Jumptap, which got $20 million in funding earlier this month, and Millennial Media, which raised $27.5 million in January to support its own acquisition plans following last year’s purchase of analytics company TapMetrics last year..
Related Stories
Posted In: Advertising, Marketing, Mobile, Money, M&A & Venture Capital, Mergers & Acquisitions