The News Corp subsidiary, eager to gain a slice of the booming European online ad market (UK spend was up 38% in 2007 to £2.8bn, according to the IAB), will now handle ad sales on around 630 UK sites, currently sold by Utarget.
Following the acquisition, Fox will create a new online ad sales division, Utarget.Fox, which will aim to sell inventory to both TV and online buyers.
Hernan Lopez, president and chief operating officer of Fox International Channels, said the idea behind the purchase is to create an aggregated buy across hundreds of publishers, both News Corp-owned and others.
MySpace, Askmen.com and Photobucket are just some of the News Corp sites that Fox will look to take control of.
"Combining our TV sales mentality with ad technology gives us the best of both worlds," added Lopez. "Online video is a great promise, but not enough of it is advertiser-friendly.
"Utarget creates a TV sub-site that means advertisers can play full-length ads that are 100% safe because the page always features only the brand."
In January 2007, Utarget received £2.5m of investment from venture capitalist firm Foresight Venture Partners. The previous January, Utarget sold its over-50s website 50Connect.co.uk to Opalcove for a seven-figure sum. The amount Fox spent on a majority stake in Utarget has not been disclosed.
Utarget was set up by Phil Cooper in 2000. As well as handling advertising on hundreds of sites, Utarget owns properties including UrbanPlanet, FinanceDaily, TravelConnect and JustCompetition. Utarget announced in December 2007 plans to open offices throughout Europe.
Fox launched .Fox Networks last year and it now employs 150 staff in 18 countries and claims to be one of the biggest ad networks in the world. It claims to reach 50 million unique users each month through its network of sites and has boasted that .Fox Networks will offer the most widespread coverage of any network by the end of 2008.
Lopez said the purchase produces more opportunities for Fox to collaborate with BSkyB, which sells ads across Fox channels FX and National Geographic in the UK.
Following the acquisition, Fox will create a new online ad sales division, Utarget.Fox, which will aim to sell inventory to both TV and online buyers.
Hernan Lopez, president and chief operating officer of Fox International Channels, said the idea behind the purchase is to create an aggregated buy across hundreds of publishers, both News Corp-owned and others.
MySpace, Askmen.com and Photobucket are just some of the News Corp sites that Fox will look to take control of.
"Combining our TV sales mentality with ad technology gives us the best of both worlds," added Lopez. "Online video is a great promise, but not enough of it is advertiser-friendly.
"Utarget creates a TV sub-site that means advertisers can play full-length ads that are 100% safe because the page always features only the brand."
In January 2007, Utarget received £2.5m of investment from venture capitalist firm Foresight Venture Partners. The previous January, Utarget sold its over-50s website 50Connect.co.uk to Opalcove for a seven-figure sum. The amount Fox spent on a majority stake in Utarget has not been disclosed.
Utarget was set up by Phil Cooper in 2000. As well as handling advertising on hundreds of sites, Utarget owns properties including UrbanPlanet, FinanceDaily, TravelConnect and JustCompetition. Utarget announced in December 2007 plans to open offices throughout Europe.
Fox launched .Fox Networks last year and it now employs 150 staff in 18 countries and claims to be one of the biggest ad networks in the world. It claims to reach 50 million unique users each month through its network of sites and has boasted that .Fox Networks will offer the most widespread coverage of any network by the end of 2008.
Lopez said the purchase produces more opportunities for Fox to collaborate with BSkyB, which sells ads across Fox channels FX and National Geographic in the UK.
.jpg)
.jpg)