AOL acquires Buy.at to boost online ad business

February 5, 2008 (Computerworld) AOL LLC said today that it has purchased Buy.at, an online affiliate marketing network, as part of its strategy to boost its online advertising business. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

AOL said that London-based Buy.at will be run as a unit of its Advertising.com business. Buy.at offers advertisers and online publishers a platform for e-commerce marketing based on performance.

Buy.at allows advertisers to pay merchants only when a user takes a specific action, such as buying an item or signing up for a free trial in response to an advertisement on the merchants' Web sites, according to AOL.

"[This] will position AOL's Advertising.com to serve merchant and retail advertisers with the industry's most comprehensive set of performance marketing offerings to drive sales and other transactions, leveraging Advertising.com's Web advertising network and search engine marketing services and now Buy.at's innovative affiliate network," said AOL Chairman and CEO Randy Falco in the statement.

Buy.at is the fifth advertising acquisition AOL has made in the past 12 months, a sign of AOL's intent to capitalize on the growing online ad market. Last year, AOL acquired Quigo, a contextual advertising firm; Tacoda, a company that specializes in delivering ads based on users' online activities; Third Screen Media, a mobile advertising network and software provider; and AdTech AG, an international online ad-serving company.