Aegis + Bluestreak = 'Watch Out, DoubleClick'

Doorgeprikt vanaf MediaPost:

by Gavin O'Malley, Tuesday, Jun 26, 2007 6:00 AM ET
DOUBLECLICK SHOULDN'T BE THREATENED BY Aegis Group's purchase of the Bluestreak ad network--or at least not yet, according to Sarah Fay, U.S. president of Isobar, Aegis' digital network.

"Buying Bluestreak does not affect our global deal with DoubleClick, but I'd like them to know that we have alternatives now," Fay said.

Such subtle defensiveness has become common among agency heads and media companies since Google agreed to buy DoubleClick for $3.1 billion in April--sparking a string of acquisitions that have driven scalable, independent ad networks to near extinction.

Fearing Google's ever-expanding influence, Microsoft quickly agreed to buy aQuantive for $6.1 billion, and then WPP snatched up 24/7 Real Media for about $649 million.

The $12.5 million Aegis is paying for Bluestreak might seem minor compared to those earlier acquisitions. Still, according to Fay, Bluestreak represents the foundation for Aegis' future.

"This move is protective, but at the same time very forward-thinking," she said. "We're making sure we can take control over our platform if we need to, which means we'll be investing in Bluestreak."

To date, Bluestreak has handled all forms of online advertising, but has specialized in delivery of rich media. In 1999, on behalf of Pfizer's Zithromax, Aegis and Bluestreak collaborated on one of the first U.S. rich media ads.

Following completion of the acquisition, Bluestreak's ad-serving employees will be transferred into Isobar. Bluestreak is the only ad server to be fully integrated with Isobar's paid search bidding agent, iSEBA.