AOL Makes $900 Million Bid For TradeDoubler
posted in Affiliate Marketing |
This is an interesting development:
AOL LLC Makes $900 Million Bid For TradeDoubler AB (Aka the Borg)
More info is here at the Morning Star
It’s not particularly a great surprise, rumours had been circulated about Tradedoubler, though not specific to whom the buyer would be. Until now it had simply been gossip & conjecture, with a hint or two dropped along the way.
I am not sure how I feel at the moment, so really it’s still all hypertehtical until the deal is set in stone and the required majority of shareholders accept the offer. With a giant like AOL coming to the table, my initial gut reaction is that it’s unfortunately & gradually taking away the independent network feel good factor. Those very foundations on what affiliate marketing flourished, yet it is inevitable that these roots will be corroded away in favour of big bucks business.
However, there maybe no need to be pessimistic, on the more positive flip-side, this may actually elevate the image & perception of affiliate marketing & thus improving our own stakes with it. Another positive result /outcome could be that it acts as a catalyst for some networks to give their reporting tools & interface a fresh lick of paint to ensure they are more appealing & subsequently a more attractive proposition, since a few more bells & whistles will both improve awareness of them & naturally with it comes further credibility (though this shouldn’t necessarily be the case). Perhaps a couple of networks may actually move their backsides into gear who have been recently lagging on several fronts. But, you cannot get away from thinking will there be a conflict of interest with access to affiliate’s data!
On the A4UForum, one member rightly quotes “I think we’ve all predicted consolidation and Mergers/aquisitions being a theme this year. I wouldn’t imagine the effects will be felt by publishers/affiliates for a half year. Certainly interested in how this will affect the market in the long run though”
This makes me wonder how many networks are contemplating 2007 end, as an “exit strategy / opportunity. There was various speculation last year surrounding DGM, however who else can shares be speculated in?
What difference it will make short term or long term? … one can only hazard at a guess …. Will it be good, bad or indifferent, thus business as usual for affiliates? Is this acquisition more for other territories other than UK & Europe? What kind of shake up in operations can we envisage?
With a brief reference to other networks, I feel Affiliate Window, still independent, have progressed significantly and by doing this relatively quietly in the background, growing rapidly with a good solid base of merchants, improved interface & interesting product search developments due for launch fairly soon. Whereas DGM is unfortuantely still in limbo-land, if & when they can turn it around your guess is as good as mine. Buy.at now have a good new interface & with the capital injection from last year, they are pursuing their own agenda & will certainly be a market force to reckon with in the UK. IBG (Affiliate Future), a very nice network to deal with, maybe haven’t quite got the merchant base yet but are long overdue for an interface redesign & that fresh lick of paint, their niche will be Holiday & Travel. Paidonresults independent & staying, sincerely hoping they get more larger branded names on board, but they too are ripe for cherry picking. OMG, again likeable, still haven’t quite got it, being finance focused they perhaps need to move towards a better version of the Moneysupermarket model.
I don’t feel Tradedoubler were the friendliest indy ever anyway though! Will this only increase the aloofness & make them more difficult to deal with, alienating them still further from affiliates that asissted in getting them there?
You can check out Tradedoubler’s shares on Yahoo Finance, which are currently enjoying a surge.
Yahoo Finance
When i last looked they were at 230 today, Shareholders are offered cash at 215.
Which is another thing, Yahoo would be an interesting option to enter into the fray as it would fit their existing criteria & business model? And with Google / Froogle offering their CPA product to merchants whereby they themselves would be the both network & the ONLY affiliate, will as predicted lead to interesting times ahead.
I am still deliberating whether to purchase more, hold or sell existing shares. As it currently stands the value of my existing investment has doubled. As a shareholder this looks good, as an affiliate .. well time will tell .. One concern is whether as a result will they trim the fat from their affiliate base affecting a number of livelihoods, in their Borg realm of control by having to do as they say, though against your best interest, in their pursuance of this total assimulation.
The timing of this proposed takeover is interesting to, with Google some time ago suspected & consequently rumoured to become a network, did the directors & soem of the major shareholders feel it was an appropiate time to cash in their cow. If the deal is scuppered, with some major shareholders holding back for a better deal and AOL withdraw, what then? Will AOL seek someone else like Commission Junction? Will there be changes in senior management at Tradedoubler who might lose patience?
On the whole congratulations to Tradedoubler and their Shareholders, as for affiliates, we can only speculate but as ever be cautious.
