Yahoo! Buys Behavioral Ad Firm Dapper

Yahoo! has acquired Dapper, a technology firm which enables advertisers to automatically target consumers with products, offers, and messages relating to their search or user history. Terms were not disclosed.

San Francisco-based Dapper, which was founded by Eran Shir and Jon Aizen in 2006, develops real-time technology which delivers personalized and relevant advertising content to consumers. Its software uses machine learning and graph theory to map the underlying structure of a web site and converts simple HTML sites into what it calls 'semantically aware applications'.

Dapper is a current Yahoo! partner, working with users of Yahoo's Smart Ads targeted ad product. Yahoo! says that combining Dapper's capabilities with its own consumer insights will further enhance its ability to deliver customized and relevant advertising, while retargeting users with personalized ads served on web pages they subsequently visit.

'The acquisition of Dapper will help Yahoo! to more efficiently deliver dynamic and personalized ads for customers across more of our network,' states Frank Weishaupt, the Internet giant's VP, North America Ad Marketplaces.

Earlier this month, the IAB and other trade associations announced the launch of a new body known as the Digital Advertising Alliance, which aims to reassure consumers that behavioral ad companies comply with accepted standards.

Web sites: www.yahoo.com and www.dapper.net .