AOL Buys Boston – Based Third Screen Media

Time Warner Inc's AOL announced today its purchase of Third Screen Media, a Boston based software services company that enables advertising on mobile phones and mobile ad-serving and management platform provider. Third Screen Media will run from its original Headquarters as a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL's advertising.com

The deal is a right move struck at the right time as the mobile advertising industry is on an upward spiral. The industry is estimated to grow to $4.7 billion in 2011 from last year's revenue of $421 million. According to eMarketeer , the market is expected to grow worldwide to $11.3 billion by 2011. Third Screen Media pulls advertisers, publishers and mobile phone carriers together on a common ground through which advertisements are sent through SMS, MMS, WAP, downloadable applications and mobile video.

Randy Falco, Chairman and CEO of AOL said “AOL is one of only four at-scale advertising businesses on the Internet, and the acquisition of Third Screen Media gives us a very strong position in the fast-growing mobile space, It also lets us offer advertisers a more complete set of solutions, from display advertising to search and now a superior set of mobile solutions.”

Lynda Clarizio, president of AOL's Advertising.com said, "Advertising.com has always set itself apart through our award-winning technologies, our industry-leading display advertising network and our comprehensive suite of solutions. Third Screen Media is the perfect complement to these core differentiators, offering the same unique advantages in the mobile marketplace. From display advertising to video advertising to mobile advertising, this acquisition firmly positions Advertising.com as the one-stop shop for online advertisers and publishers."

In response, Thomas Burgess, founder and chief executive officer of Third Screen Media said, “This acquisition brings together two pioneers in the interactive advertising space. AOL's Advertising.com has long been the advertising network to watch, and Third Screen Media broke new ground in the mobile advertising space with our pioneering technology and industry-leading mobile network. Together, we can now offer advertisers and publishers a comprehensive suite of interactive advertising solutions for every type of device, platform and program.”

Previous corporate purchases by AOL include Relegence Corporation in November 2006; Game Daily (http://www.gamedaily.com/) in 2006. Userplane in August 2006; Lightningcast Inc in May 2006; Truveo, Inc. in December 2005; Weblogs, Inc. in October 2005; and Xdrive, Inc. and Wildseed, Ltd. in August 2005. AOL acquired Advertising.com in June 2004.

Third Screen Media will still maintain its top office in Boston. Either companies did not disclose financial details of the deal. Before the deal was struck many suspected the then potential acquisition to cost $60-80 million.

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