Opera buys mobile ad firm

Norwegian web and mobile browser developer Opera Software has acquired mobile advertising network AdMarvel for a reported sum of $8 million (€5.6m) .

The acquisition is part of Opera’s bid to outperform rival Safari on the mobile front. Opera claims over 50 million mobile users per month.
 
Californian based AdMarvel was launched in 2006, aiming “to make mobile advertising an open ecosystem, through better transparency of performance and simpler management of ad traffic to optimize revenue.”
 
Opera already had an existing partnership with AdMarvel, but decided that owning the company would better position it to solidify relationships with publishers and marketers on a global basis.
 
Moconews reports that the acquisition figure was an upfront $8 million with an additional $15 million “if certain aggressive financial targets are met.”
 
“In our fast-growing industry, mobile advertising represents an interesting long-term revenue opportunity. Every month, nearly 50 million people access the Web using Opera on their mobile phones and together with AdMarvel, we think we can play an important role in the evolution of mobile advertising," said Opera Software CEO Lars Boilesen.