Bazaarvoice Buys Product Review Platform Influenster

In the US, word-of-mouth specialist Bazaarvoice has acquired New York-based product discovery and reviews platform Influenster, which has nearly six million community members worldwide. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Influenster's platform offers access to a 'product-obsessed' community whose members have written more than 38 million product reviews and who create more than 50,000 pieces of content every day - including photos, videos, and Q&A. Clients work with the company to run product sampling campaigns, generate and license review and social content, and build brand awareness.

As part of the deal, co-founders Aydin Acar and Elizabeth Scherle will retain responsibility for key functions at Influenster, whose community will now be combined with Bazaarvoice's software and network of more than 6,000 brand and retailer web sites. Bazaarvoice says this will give brands a single partner to help them build relationships with new and existing customers, create a comprehensive product reviews and UGC strategy, and drive word-of-mouth marketing at scale.

Joe Davis (pictured), CEO of Bazaarvoice, comments: 'Influenster's product sampling and review generation offerings further strengthen our core product ratings and reviews solutions, and their hyper-targeting and gamification capabilities will allow us to better support our customers' broader marketing initiatives. We're excited to partner with a company that shares our belief in the power of the everyday consumer'.

Web sites: www.bazaarvoice.com and www.influenster.com .