WPP continues to invest in the ad technology world, as the holding company on Wednesday announced it has acquired Medialets, a mobile ad firm with attribution technology.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Post-acquisition, Medialets will continue to operate as a standalone business, per Eric Litman, chairman and CEO of Medialets. WPP will “significantly” invest in Medialets, Litman said.
“It’s recognized by the WPP leadership just how significant mobile has become, and they are prepared to put considerable resources behind the business,” Litman said to Real-Time Daily.
It’s not just mobile WPP has taken notice of. Last year, WPP boosted its stake in ad exchange AppNexus to 15%. Earlier this year, WPP acquired a “substantial” stake in comScore to develop cross-media audience and campaign measurement offerings. WPP is also home to Xaxis, one of the largest trading desks in the world, which itself invested in the mobile ad space just last month when it acquired ActionX.
As an extension of the fact, Medialets will continue to operate as a standalone business unit, not every WPP client will be required to use its technology. “[WPP clients] will continue to have a choice,” said Litman, “and we’re also going to service the rest of the market.”
In a blog post announcing the acquisition, Litman wrote: “WPP’s commitment to bring in additional resources to help us grow means you can look forward to new features, new functionality and new platform integrations rolling out at an ever-increasing pace. In particular, we will be putting big focus on expanding our attribution capabilities, strengthening offers around creating safe environments for brand advertisers, and significantly growing our our ability to identify users and devices.”