Irvine-based Specific Media Inc., an online advertising startup, said Wednesday it purchased a British online advertising company.
Privately held Specific Media bought London’s Adviva Media Ltd. for undisclosed terms.
In November Specific Media raised $100 million,the biggest funding of its kind in Orange County last year.
The company said at the time it would use the money to go after companies in the U.S. and Europe and to tap new types of online ads, including text-based advertising (similar to Google Inc.’s sponsored links) and streaming video.
Specific Media is set to get Adviva’s offices in Germany and France.
Adviva’s London offices will become Specific Media’s European headquarters, the company said.
The buy gives Specific Media a foothold in some of the biggest markets in Europe and more than doubles its workers to about 200.
Adviva Chief Executive Todd Treusdell is set to run the operation as Specific Media’s managing director of European operations.
With Adviva under its belt, Specific Media is set to become the fourth-largest online advertising network in Britain, the company said.
Specific Media makes money by buying up banner ad spots on Web sites and reselling the space to companies looking to advertise to specific groups of consumers.
The advertisers pay a 20% to 30% premium for the spots because of Specific Media’s “behavioral targeting” technology, according to Chief Executive Tim Vanderhook.
The company can go after people based on demographics, location and Web sites visited, among other criteria. It has a patent pending on its “demographic prediction system.”
“Specific Media has anonymous data on 365 million consumers globally and the acquisition of Adviva gives us the opportunity to utilize the European portion of that data,” Vanderhook said.
Specific Media’s customers include major television networks, news outlets and Fortune 500 companies.
