Amazon buys Sizmek's ad server and DCO

Amazon has purchased Sizmek’s ad serving and dynamic content optimisation (DCO) businesses.
The retail giant confirmed the news in a blog post on Friday (31 May).

“Sizmek and Amazon Advertising have many mutual customers, so we know how valued these proven solutions are to their customer base,” the company said.

It said that once the deal closes, Sizmek Ad Server and Sizmek DCO will operate separately from Amazon Advertising “for the time being”.

“We look forward to working with the team, and we’ll share more updates as we invent and create new opportunities to better serve our advertisers over time,” Amazon added.

Sizmek has been selling off parts of its business after it filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US in March. At the time, Sizmek estimated its assets were worth US$100 million to $500 million.

In April it agreed to sell its data management and demand-side platforms to software company Zeta Global in a deal worth US$36 million.

Sizmek has considerable Asia-Pacific operations, with 19 offices across 11 countries listed on its website. The company has a large ad operations centre in Cebu in the Philippines, as well as sizeable teams in Singapore and Malaysia.

The addition of Sizmek’s ad-serving capabilities will be a feather in the cap of Amazon’s advertising push.

The business has rolled out a variety of new video and search ad formats and measurement tools over the past year as part its ambition to compete with Google and Facebook’s advertising business.

As a result, it is recording fast growth in its advertising business. The company’s "other" revenue segment, which is mostly advertising, grew 34% to $2.72 billion in the first quarter compared with a year earlier.