AcuityAds Buys Mobile Targeting Firm 140 Proof

Ad targeting solutions specialist AcuityAds has acquired social media and mobile targeting company 140 Proof, in a deal valued up to $20m.

Using its patented Blended Interest Graph technology and flagship Relevance API product, 140 Proof interprets data from more than 20 billion interest signals from a pool of over 700 million public social media profiles. The company looks at what these individuals share, the places they check in, the hobbies they discuss, and the influencers they follow; and from this data, it is able to model and sell custom audience profiles to clients.

AcuityAds says that the acquisition, which comprises cash and performance-based payments, will add to its capabilities - including proprietary machine learning technology, real-time reporting, and integration with data management platform Adobe Audience Manager - to enable it to offer marketers a complete view of their prospective audience.

Tal Hayek (pictured), CEO of AcuityAds, comments: 'The 140 Proof acquisition accelerates our ability to leverage social media data for brand advertisers and media companies to deliver powerful targeted advertising at scale. We believe that this acquisition will yield a game-changing audience targeting solution for Acuity's customers and their digital marketing initiatives.'

Web sites: www.acuityads.com and www.140proof.com .