Posted by Ars Technic staff August 15, 2020 05:51:03The ad network that makes up Facebook’s ad platform, Clanton, is set to be sold to Google for $600 million in cash, a source close to the deal told The Wall Street Journal.
The deal, which is expected to close in the first half of 2020, will give Clanton a larger market share than Facebook’s rival Google.
Clanton has grown into a dominant player in the mobile advertising market.
Clatoin’s revenue for 2016 was $3.7 billion, more than double Facebook’s $1.4 billion, according to a blog post from the company.
Facebook’s deal to buy Clanton would allow the company to offer its ad platform to a wider audience, and it could also streamline Clanton’s work.
“We are delighted to be joining Clanton as a strategic partner,” Facebook’s executive chairman and co-founder, Sheryl Sandberg, wrote in a statement.
“As Facebook has been working to build a new ad platform that is more powerful and better suited to our users, we are confident this partnership will result in a more powerful platform that people want to use.”
Facebook has struggled to monetize its ad-targeting services, especially on mobile.
Facebook recently added new ad-serving options to its mobile app and Facebook Live, but it hasn’t added any new ads.
The company’s ad-free platform is popular with consumers and is available to users worldwide.
The platform has been widely criticized for not offering a clear path to monetization.
