Brief:
- App analytics firm App Annie acquired mobile advertising data company Libring to expand its platform. The combination will let brands and mobile publishers view market data and advertising analytics side-by-side, per an announcement shared with Mobile Marketer.
- App Annie mostly has focused on providing data about app downloads, revenue, retention and usage. By adding Libring's services, the company can offer a broader range of marketing-related metrics such as customer acquisition cost, lifetime value and return on ad spend. Libring's customers included Sega, Reddit, EA, Zynga and Ubisoft, according to its website.
- App Annie also revealed a diamond-shaped logo as part of a rebranding effort that showcases its expanded range of services. Terms of acquisition weren't disclosed. App Annie in March said its annual recurring revenue had surpassed $100 million.
Insight:
App Annie's acquisition of Libring brings together a variety of app performance metrics with mobile advertising data, reflecting both the growing importance of mobile marketing strategies to brands and a massive shift in ad spending to mobile platforms.
U.S. mobile ad revenue grew 40% to $69.9 billion last year, making up 65% of total digital ad revenue, according to the IAB's Internet Advertising Revenue Report. Looking ahead, U.S. mobile ad spending will reach $141.4 billion by 2022, or more than double the $68.1 billion spent on TV, researcher eMarketer forecast. That shift will likely drive demand for app analytics and mobile ad data that the combined App Annie and Libring provide.
Despite that growth, there are signs of consolidation in mobile marketing services, including ad-tech firms that were forecast to receive less venture funding this year amid heightened concerns about data privacy regulations, particularly in the European Union. The past few months have brought deal announcements among vendors of services ranging from analytics to media placements. Last week, Innovid, the advertising and analytics startup focused on connected TV, acquired the display advertising software company Herolens. Before that, mobile marketing startup Airship acquired Apptimize, a user experience testing company, to give clients a single platform for managing digital ad campaigns.
