Adobe just announced a big acquisition today; buying behavioral data bank DemDex. Terms of the deal were not disclosed in the release.
Demdex captures behavioral data on behalf of Websites and advertisers and stores it in a “behavioral data bank.” The company then score each user across more than 40 behavioral and demographic variables to come up with a “traitweight,” which helps websites segment their audiences better and advertisers target their messages more exactly.
The beauty of DemDex is that it makes the behavioral data portable and puts it in the control of the Websites and advertisers themselves. They can plug it into whichever ad server or service they are currently using.
DemDex’s technology will be added to Adobe’s Online Marketing Suite, which is powered by Adobe-acquired Omniture. Of course, Adobe is looking to grab hold of a the $109 billion online ad market by offering ad optimization via its marketing suite. Of course, it should be noted that the data DemDex collects is based on anonymous cookie IDs and consumers can opt out of receiving targeted ads.
This was a pretty quick exit for DemDex, which only launched in 2009. The startup has raised a total of $7.5 million in funding.
Leena Rao is currently a Senior Writer at Fortune Magazine.
Leena had a brief stint at Google Ventures as an Operating Partner.
Leena’s first role out of journalism school was at TechCrunch which she joined in 2008. She rose through the ranks becoming the Managing Editor for TechCrunch and a voice at TechCrunch Disrupt.
She recently finished graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she studied business journalism and videography. From 2004 to 2007, she helped lead Congresswoman Carloyn Maloney’s community outreach and relations efforts in New York City.
She graduated from Columbia University in 2003, where she was the captain of the women’s varsity tennis team. She has also contributed technology content for Oprah.com.