Measurement giant Nielsen is getting bigger. The company said it plans to acquire ad verification and brand safety provider DoubleVerify for $2.15 billion in cash.
If completed, the acquisition would fill a gap in Nielsen’s business, which has relied heavily on audience measurement, most notably through its ratings for linear TV and streaming.
DoubleVerify’s technology is designed to show whether ads actually ran in digital environments, and whether they were shown on sites deemed safe by advertisers.
In a statement, Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao said, “Joining forces with DoubleVerify will extend our capabilities deeper into the digital media industry, ensuring that the spend flowing between buyers and sellers is reaching real people in brand-suitable environments, through verified channels.”
Rao was not available for an interview as of press time
DoubleVerify CEO Mark Zagorski, who previously held the role of evp of Nielsen Marketing Cloud from 2015 to 2017, said in a statement: “I’m proud of the strong momentum we’ve built for DoubleVerify as the leading media effectiveness platform, the strength of our AI-powered measurement and optimization platform, and the exceptional work of our team.”
Simultaneous to the acquisition announcement, DoubleVerify reported second-quarter earnings. The company reported $193.8 million in revenue, a 3% year-over-year increase. Revenue came from three areas: activation ($107.7 million), measurement ($66.8 million), and supply-side ($19.3 million).
This story is developing.
