WinBuyer, a provider of comparative pricing ecommerce applications, has completed its first round of funding -- worth $6.9 million, and led by Pitango Venture Capital along with Giza Venture Capital. In addition, Dan Clarke has been appointed to the role of CEO.

"The investment allows WinBuyer to expand its market presence within the U.S. and further into international markets, said Clarke, who has previously held positions as senior director at Intel US, and CEO of Vcommerce, an ecommerce platform used by leading online retailers.

Founded in 2005, WinBuyer displays price comparisons on a merchant's product pages in an effort to increase a consumer's confidence in a potential purchase. Quite simply, if a consumer is given information that leads them to believe they are getting the best deal, they are more likely to take that deal.

According to a survey conducted by About.com in September, consumers are indeed shopping early for the holidays this year so they can do more comparison and less impulsive shopping. By September, 40% of respondents said they were already shopping for the holidays, while 40% said they planned to start their shopping in October and November.

Likewise, due to the economy, consumers are spending more time shopping online and looking for deals this holiday season compared to last year. Nearly half -- 46% -- reported doing more comparison shopping online before purchasing.

WinBuyer says that its technology has been implemented by roughly 200 online merchants between the US and UK, including Ritz Interactive, GameQuest and Hayneedle.

Most recently, WinBuyer announced that ecommerce destination Overstock.com will begin offering its comparative pricing services in time for the holiday season.

Although modest compared to 2007 levels, the ad technology and services market has recently seen an uptick in mergers and acquisitions. Last month, for example, ad technology firm The Rubicon Project acquired behavioral targeting data provider Others Online for an undisclosed sum.

The online media and technology sector saw the largest number of transactions -- along with the highest transaction values -- through the first three quarters of the years, according to recent analysis from Jordan, Edmiston Group. Still, the 141 deals valued at $5.6 billion lagged 2008 levels by 31% and 26%, respectively, the investment bank reported.

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