Digital Trends

Yesterday the Federal Trade Commission gave the thumbs-up for AOL to acquire behavioural analysis marketing firm Tacoda. The green light came before the 30-day review period had ended as the acquisition received “early termination” under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

That means AOL, which has been struggling in the earnings department, can now work hard at its new ad-supported approach as it moves away from the old, failing subscription model. In turn, that means the company needs to deliver more effective, targeted advertising for it clients, especially after its purchase of Advertising.com. No figures have been disclosed, but it’s believed that AOL paid around $275 million for Tacoda and $500 for Advertising.com.

The Tacoda purchase should help AOL deliver that, although the use of cookies to track a user’s online movements have drawn criticism. However, the ad juggernaut seems to be rolling on, as Yahoo has launched a similar venture with its SmartAds and Microsoft is set on a similar course.

Yahoo purchased Right Media, while Microsoft very recently bought aQuantive after Google kicked everything off by paying a small fortune for DoubleClick, although that particular purchase is under review by the FTC.

Targeted ads are expected to be worth $4 billion by 2011, and the hope is that AOL could use Tacoda’s established record in the field to increase its ad prices. But there may also be problems, as Tacoda was sued for patent infringement this month by Modavox.