WiFi-centric mobile ad platform/network JiWire has acquired NearbyNow for an undisclosed sum. The move extends JiWire’s reach and capabilities. JiWire is essentially about creating locally relevant ads for national brands that are distributed at WiFi hotspots. This very significantly “diversifies” the company’s offerings.
I had heard about this acquisition a few weeks ago and asked JiWire about it during a conversation last week. They wouldn’t confirm at the time; the silence was confirmation however.
According to the press release out this morning:
The acquisition accelerates the expansion of JiWire’s extensive location-based media channel across Wi-Fi and mobile with the addition of industry-leading location technology. The combination of JiWire’s broad location-based audience, which gives advertisers access to over 35 million monthly uniques, and NearbyNow’s sophisticated mobile location technology and deep expertise in retail and mobile merchandising will create a new set of location-based advertising opportunities for major brands. This complements JiWire’s client roster of leading Fortune 500 brands such as Buick, Hyatt Place, Jeep, Microsoft and Virgin America.
NearbyNow moved from a local-product inventory provider online and in mobile to a mobile app developer and platform for magazines. The move was predominantly the result of a bad economy and NearbyNow’s response to where it saw demand in the market. However NearbyNow is/was doing some extremely innovative things with advertising within mobile apps. One example is enabling retailer A to target higher-end retailer B’s customers with an offer when people looked on a map for retailer B’s store locations.
The NearbyNow inventory API, as I understand it, is still being used by a number of companies. It’s unclear if that data will continue to be available after the acquisition. Scott Dunlap, CEO and founder of NearbyNow, becomes VP of Mobile Business Development at JiWire.
This acquisition may signal the beginning of a wave of consolidation as smaller companies try and bulk up for scale and visibility in a very crowded and noisy market.
November 23rd, 2010 at 3:05 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Greg Sterling, Jeff Hasen and shoppetweets, SMBinfo. SMBinfo said: JiWire Buys NearbyNow http://ow.ly/1a7Ch3 [...]
November 23rd, 2010 at 3:29 pm
[...] just did a quick email exchange with Scott Dunlap of NearbyNow and now JiWire. I asked him a few questions about the acquisition and the future. He told me the acquisition was [...]
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:08 pm
[...] week another of the early companies in the space, NearbyNow was acquired by JiWire. The only other “mature” company out there, relatively speaking, is Krillion. [...]