In the latest in a strong of acquisitions, AOL on Tuesday acquired Sphere, a contextual-search tool developer that broadens AOL’s publishing network and offers more relevant search results.
Founded in 2005 and based in San Francisco, Sphere uses its contextual technology to make connections between content from blogs, video, media, photos and advertisements. Results are then displayed in a pop-over window or an integrated widget that lets publishers enhance articles by incorporating related articles and blog posts.
“Our focus at AOL is providing consumers relevant content wherever they are on the Web, and Sphere’s capabilities fit in perfectly with this effort. Not only will it let us enhance content on our own sites, it will let us distribute our content across Sphere’s growing third-party publisher network,” said Ron Grant, AOL president and COO. “In addition, this acquisition provides AOL with access to advertising inventory across Sphere’s network, while growing its reach to content publishers via the widget.”
A Bargain for AOL
AOL and Sphere were not strangers. AOL test-drove the company’s technology before bringing it into the fold. Specifically, AOL partnered with Sphere to offer its widget technology on AOL News and the myAOL service and Mgnet.
Sphere also has some heavy-hitting clients, including MLB.com, Newsweek and Reuters. Sphere’s third-party network includes more than 50,000 content publishers and blogs and is live on an average of more than 2 billion article pages across the Web every month, according to the company’s internal data.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but observers are speculating Sphere may have cost about $25 million, making it an inexpensive acquisition for AOL, according to Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence.
“It’s true that various content properties have been remade in the fashion of blogs, so Sphere offers a way to enrich that content,” Sterling said. “The Sphere…