At the end of last week, Amazon announced that it has agreed to acquire the Ad Server and Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) businesses from Sizmek, a tech company that declared bankruptcy earlier in 2019.
In the announcement, Amazon stated that, “Sizmek and Amazon Advertising have many mutual customers, so we know how valued these proven solutions are to their customer base,” and also highlighted that “Sizmek Ad Server and DCO will operate separately from Amazon Advertising for the time being.”
The acquisition comes at interesting time for Amazon – while its current ad revenue pales in comparison to its e-commerce business, Amazon has increasingly been touted to challenge the likes of Google and Facebook in the advertising space.
DCO uses data to develop personalized ads (tailored to geography, local weather, stock prices etc.), which are then distributed across the Ad Server. Amazon acquiring Sizmek’s server and DCO now allows them to gain momentum in the digital ecosphere against the current advertising duopoly.
It will be interesting to see whether this new momentum will allow Amazon to gain any meaningful traction in the digital ad industry in the coming months, or whether this is a longer term strategic move.
What do you think of this move from Amazon? Let us know in the comments!
