Technorati announced that it has acquired El Segundo, California-based self-serve advertising network AdEngage in an all-stock transaction, the details of which have not been disclosed. This comes about two months after Technorati’s acquisition of BlogCritics.
AdEngage claims to display over 12 billion ads on over 4,500 websites every month. Michael Arrington at TechCrunch notes that many of these sites are adult-oriented, which is why Technorati plans to form a separate version of the service for Technorati Media called simply Technorati Engage. At the Technorati Weblog, CEO Richard Jalichandra outlines the plan:
Step one for Technorati Media was to get the network up and running with a smaller group of bloggers. But our ultimate goal is to help bloggers at all levels make money, while at the same time creating an effective and safe vehicle for brand advertisers.
So step two is to open up something that works for everyone, and that is ideally suited to the long tail. While the audiences here are smaller, the levels of engagement, influence and expertise in the audience can be exponentially higher. It’s also an incredibly challenging space for advertisers to target and buy. With Technorati Engage, advertisers can very easily achieve the necessary levels of targeting and critical mass.
First, Technorati Engage is being released in private alpha and then will be launched in public beta next month with a 125X125 ad format and will move to full display capabilities. To enter the network, Technorati will have to approve your site for quality standards.
