• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, January 24, 2012

OwnerIQ, which targets ads in part based on what consumers already own, has quietly acquired DiJiPop in an all-stock deal to support retailers through paid product placement and display ads.

The deal enables OwnerIQ to use DiJiPop's technology, which dynamically serves products placements and banner ads in real time, to increase revenue potential for the online retailer and manufacturers. The ad targeting platform gathers data along the path to purchase, including reviews and support sites.

Retailers have begun to view their sites as media properties, creating an advertising network by using customer data to target site visitors with ads. Amazon implemented this strategy last year. Similarly, Wal- Mart has been acquiring social media and mobile companies to use the data to support commerce.    

Steve Ustaris, VP of marketing at OwnerIQ, said the acquisition gives the company the ability to serve ads on retail Web sites using the company's data, adding to the service of serving ads off the client's Web site. "We can now collect data from a retailer's Web site and target ads on or off the Web site," he said, referring to services as off-site and on-site monetization and the ability now to serve ads on site.

OwnerIQ, which developed a real-time media buying platform, completes in two markets. On the advertising side of the business, it commonly competes with audience-targeting providers that use proprietary big data, such as Audience Science, Magnetic, and Media6Degrees. When it comes to data collection, competitors include companies, such as Triad Retail Media, and Akamai's Acerno, which supplies shopping data.