AOL purchases content-personalization company Gravity for $90 million
On Thursday, January 23, AOL published a press release announcing its plans to acquire Gravity, a content-personalization company founded by former MySpace employees, for $90 million.
According to the source, Gravity has created a patented technology that analyzes people's interests, habits and preferences in order to tailor the content they access on the internet. This type of capability can help AOL deliver more relevant and engaging experiences to users across all areas of its online strategy. Not only will it personalize content for users, but it will also enable advertisers to better target certain audiences.
"Every day we're presented with an overwhelming amount of information to consume on our favorite websites and apps," said Gravity CEO Amit Kapur in a press statement. "It's time to move beyond searching for the best content to having the best content search for you. We believe that by combining AOL's vast brand, publisher and advertiser network with Gravity's interest graph technology, we can do just that."
AOL chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong added that Gravity will help transform the way that AOL users obtain information, noting that "the web is moving to the era of personal."
Mashable reports that this is AOL's first big acquisition since August 2013, when it purchased Adap.tv, a video advertising platform, for $405 million.
The smartest companies understand that business acquisitions can elevate their brand, expand their reach and increase their revenue, making these agreements considerably more popular — particularly in the technology space. That being said, the transition process can be quite complicated, which is why there are merger and acquisition consultants available to help.