Yahoo to acquire video advertising platform

Yahoo is to buy programmatic video platform, BrightRoll, in a deal worth $640 million. According to an official blog post, the acquisition will accelerate Yahoo’s strategy to focus on search, communications and digital content through growth in mobile, social, native and specifically video advertising. With the acquisition to close in the first quarter of 2015, BrightRoll will strengthen Yahoo’s video advertising platform to make it the largest in the US, and is expected to clear $100 million in net revenue this year alone.

“Here at Yahoo, video is one of the largest growth opportunities, and BrightRoll is a terrific, strategic and financially compelling fit for our video advertising business,” says Marissa Mayer, CEO, Yahoo. “As with every acquisition we have been extremely thoughtful about our approach to the video advertising space. The acquisition will accelerate the growth of both companies – we can help BrightRoll scale to even more advertisers globally and they can bring their tremendous platform offering to Yahoo’s advertisers. The combination builds positive momentum for Yahoo’s broader display advertising business in 2015.”

Tod Sacerdoti, CEO and Founder of BrightRoll adds, “We believe that the next step for programmatic video advertising as an industry is to extend and standardise globally, make cross-device buying simple and measurable, and complement and integrate with TV. We are excited to join Yahoo to materially advance efforts in each of these areas. We’re still in the early innings as an industry, and together, BrightRoll and Yahoo are committed to the vision of helping grow the entire video advertising ecosystem.”