Cision Buys ShareIQ Visual Recognition Technology

Media intelligence and communications specialist Cision has acquired the technical assets of Berlin-based ShareIQ, whose platform discovers, analyzes and indexes original pieces of visual content, as well as shared and republished copies of specific images. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The ShareIQ solution maps the history and path of each image to provide reach and engagement, as well as insight into where the image is being shared and by whom - a publisher or an individual influencer. It can also create custom audiences of individuals who have viewed, liked or shared specific visual content; track brand-generated, user-generated, and influencer-generated images; and track and analyze competitors' visual content.

According to Cision, when used in conjunction with its own partnerships, including LiveRamp and MediaMath, these audiences can be uploaded to any data management platform to facilitate targeted digital advertising. With the addition of ShareIQ technology to its Communications Cloud, Cision says it will be the first earned media platform in the industry to monitor, analyze and attribute value to both text and visual content.

CEO Kevin Akeroyd (pictured) comments: 'With more than three billion images uploaded to the web each day and more than 95 million images added to channels like Instagram daily, earned media is becoming increasingly visual. ShareIQ is the latest of our carefully curated technology acquisitions designed to make the Cision Comms Cloud the most robust in the industry - and the first to provide comms professionals with a way to harness the true business impact of the visual content market'.

Web sites: www.cision.com and www.shareiq.com .