BizJournals Portfolio
Aug 19 2008 3:40pm EDT

$20 Billion for 100 Ad Companies....

Blaise Zerega is stunned. Who knew these ad networks were so valuable? Wow. There were 160 venture capital investments in ad companies from Q1 2007 to Q2 2008, worth more than $2.1 billion. And in same period,  there were 100 acquisitions worth about $20 billion, according to a new report from PaidContent.

This apparent frenzy o includes big deals like Google buying DoubleClick, Yahoo buying RightMedia, and Microsoft buying aQuantive, which of course spurred some of the investment. But also driving the VC activity has to be the belief by entrepreneurs (and their VCs) that the online ad game is just beginning.

If it is even truly underway. This sector, according to the report, generates some $600-$800 billion in annual revenues. So, what will it take for YouTube or Facebook to grab some these monies and get profitable? Certainly there are any number of ad networks being hatched that just might help them...


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