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Publisher tech firm OpenWeb is making a $100 million acquisition to help publishers better target ads and emails

Nadav Shoval, CEO of OpenWeb
Nadav Shoval, CEO of OpenWeb. OpenWeb

  • OpenWeb is acquiring publisher-tech firm Jeeng for $100 million.
  • The acquisition is the third company OpenWeb has bought in about a year.
  • The Jeeng acquisition will help OpenWeb's publisher clients collect data for subscriptions and ads.
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OpenWeb, a tech company that helps publishers engage with readers and sell ads, has acquired Jeeng for $100 million, the companies said Thursday. 

OpenWeb works with the likes of The New York Times, Forbes, and Hearst to manage comments on articles, data, and polling features on publishers' websites.

The firm's technology can suss out toxicity and collect data like email addresses that publishers use to register subscribers. 

OpenWeb is acquiring Jeeng to provide publishers with tools to take that data and personalize emails, push notifications, and SMS messages. Jeeng uses artificial intelligence to tailor messages to specific people based on the stories and content they engage with. For example, publishers can use Jeeng's tools to curate email newsletters, said Nadav Shoval, CEO and cofounder of OpenWeb. OpenWeb also pushes the data into supply-side platforms to run targeted programmatic ads for advertisers, and charges a fee of publishers' ad revenue.

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As it gets harder for marketers to use third-party cookies and other online trackers like Apple's identifier, the acquisition will help publishers create audiences that can be used to sell ads or build products like subscriptions and micropayments, Shoval said.

"We believe that the only way for publishers to stay relevant and build a healthy business is about building relationships with your customers," he said.

Jeeng is the third adtech firm that OpenWeb has acquired in about a year. In January 2022, OpenWeb acquired Hive Media for $60 million to build tools for publishers to better recommend content, and the company acquired Adyoulike in April for $100 million to expand into social advertising.

Terms of the Jeeng deal were not disclosed beyond the headline price.

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The acquisition of Jeeng follows OpenWeb's Series F round of $170 million in funding from October, which valued it at $1.5 billion, according to the company. OpenWen has raised a total of $392 million, according to PitchBook.

Shoval said OpenWeb is open to other acquisitions but he declined to name types of companies that are of interest.

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