by George Slefo // July 17, 2018
Now that data-marketing giant Acxiom has sold its marketing solutions platform to Interpublic for $2.3 billion, eyes are turning to Axciom’s other big business: LiveRamp, which helps brands link their data with real people. While observers wonder whether LiveRamp will also go on the block, the company is adding new revenue streams—potentially stirring up an appetite among either investors or potential buyers.
LiveRamp on Tuesday announced a deal with Sonobi, which helps publishers sell digital ad inventory, that will let marketers upload their data to LiveRamp and then target signed-in users across leading publishers such as The Guardian, USA Today, Scripps and CBS. Advertisers won’t need to use additional platforms to do it, as they’ll be able to make the ad buys directly through LiveRamp’s software.
LiveRamp is perhaps best known for its Identity Resolution service, which plugs into other platforms so marketers can target ads around the digital ecoystem, much as they can within Google and Facebook. The company had not previously offered planning, buying or measurement, instead offering its services as one piece of the larger “tech stack” that brands assemble for programmatic advertising.