As part of a broader effort to help publishers cut editorial costs, while boosting their online presence, Outbrain has acquired headline predictor Visual
Revenue for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2006, Outbrain gives online publishers a platform for recommending content links with the hope of increasing traffic and page views.
Outbrain CEO Yaron Galai said his company, and the addition of Visual Revenue, bode well for the future of news media. A self-proclaimed fan of “great journalism,” Galai said
he believes “strongly … in the important role the editor has in the newsroom.”
According to Galai, Outbrain serves editors and their publications by strengthening
their editorial decisions with relevant data and analytics.
The Outbrain service also promises to better monetize publishers’ content pages by leveraging recommended links to
third-party content.
Visual Revenue, for its part, offers media companies a “Front Page Decision Support System” for their online editors.
The technology
tries to predict the performance of a piece of content about 15 minutes into the future, and then provides editors with real-time recommendations on what content to place in which position on a front
page -- and for how long.
Visual Revenue’s “Bloomberg terminal of the newsroom,” so-called, has been gathering steam over the two years. The startup boasts an
impressive client list, including Forbes, Time.com, NBC, CNN Money, and Cox Media.
Per the acquisition, all 25 members of the Visual Revenue team are expected to join
Outbrain.
Outbrain publishing partners include USA Today, The Daily Beast, Ziff Davis, iVillage, Slate, and Univision Interactive.