• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, March 11, 2014

Consolidation among social-marketing vendors appears to be a global phenomenon. Take Seattle-based MetrixLab, which is taking a majority stake in Oxyme, an Amsterdam-based social media analytics firm.
 
Oxyme adds to MetrixLab’s analytics offerings, which already span surveys, CRM and ERP platforms. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 
 
Oxyme’s flagship product, Digital Sentiment Index (DSI), correlates key performance metrics like sales and market share.
 
With the deal, MetrixLab now employs over 400 data analysts and researchers, including a network of 150 social-media specialists in the United States, Europe and Asia.
 
Analysts say the social management market is ripe for consolidation. In fact, over the next 24 months, the number of social-leaning vendors and agencies will shrink from roughly 200 to less than 24, according to Mukul Krishna, digital media industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
 
“Consolidation is definitely needed -- and definitely happening,” Krishna recently told Social Media & Marketing Daily. “The market is extremely fragmented and filled with vendors and agencies promising to manage everything, which is B.S.”
 
Plus, the mergers and acquisition activity is not limited by national borders.
 
Along with MetrixLab’s latest move, WPP was recently rumored to be eyeing social-media analytics start-up Simplify360. The Bangalore-based firm already boasts about 100 clients, including Revlon, Target and Yamaha.
 
The social-marketing business is bigger than ever. This year, advertisers are expected to pump nearly $12 billion into social networks around the world, according to eMarketer. That’s 25% more than marketers spent on social last year.