• by Shankar Gupta , September 5, 2006

Online advertising technology firm Accipiter has acquired ad network BidClix, which has a technology platform that allows publishers to sell inventory on a self-service basis.

Accipiter plans to offer the service to its publisher clients, said CEO Brian Handly. "We had a significant amount of demand among our publishers for this type of solution," Handly said. "Our publishers were looking for a solution that gave them more control over the advertiser relationships, but also gave them the ability to backfill if they had some unsold inventory."

The self-service product, Active Market, combines multiple publisher sites into a network, and hosts a Web tool that allows advertisers to bid for placement on selected sites. Publishers can choose to allow advertisers from BidClix's network to bid on their inventory, or close their content and sell only though their site.

Currently, the BidClix Active Market platform will be offered separately from Accipiter's other publisher services, including ad serving, tracking and delivery. Eventually, the company plans to integrate the services.

Publishers that use the Active Market platform include MSN's Canadian portal, Tickle.com, Homes.com, Paltalk.com, Bravenet.com, and Reunion.com.