AT&T plans to acquire global advertising marketplace AppNexus in a move to it hopes will accelerate growth of its ad revenues and in part follow a strategy already embraced by rival Verizon.
“Similar to Verizon Communications Inc.’s recent focus on media, AT&T is betting advertising will become a pillar in its plan to build itself up beyond just a set of telecom pipes,” Bloomberg news reported.
The AppNexus deal was announced Monday. Financial terms were not disclosed.
AppNexus will become part of the AT&T advertising and analytics firm it created last year.
“Ad tech unites real-time analytics and technology with our premium TV and video content,” said Brian Lesser, CEO of the AT&T company. “So, we went out and found the strongest player in the space. AppNexus has scale of infrastructure, advanced technology and diverse talent. The combination of AT&T advertising & analytics and AppNexus will help deliver a world-class advertising platform that provides brands and publishers a new and innovative way to reach consumers in the marketplace today.”
AppNexus has a team of more than 400 software engineers.
“This team brings leadership and vertical expertise in machine learning and predictive analytics, advertising technology and video,” AT&T added.
