Dive Brief:

• Kargo has acquired software-as-a-service company Ziggeo, adding to its omnichannel offerings in a quest to build bespoke products for advertisers across a variety of media, according to details provided to Marketing Dive.
• Ziggeo’s developer team will set the direction for the combined companies’ video player roadmap to build new, differentiated video ad formats.
• The acquisition is Kargo’s fourth high-profile addition in two years. Kargo acquired attention-based ad company Parsec Media in March 2022, e-commerce social ad platform SticherAds in October 2021, and social media ad platform Rhombus in August 2020. The company also launched its own publishing system, Fabrik, in March 2021.

Dive Insight:

The latest acquisition by Kargo, which got its start as a mobile advertising company, underscores the continuing importance of video advertising across channels, including mobile and social. Ziggeo's product suite includes a video player, video recording technology and a transcoding pipeline. These products will be integrated into Kargo’s new and existing publisher partners and clients, according to Oliver Friedmann, Ziggeo’s founder and chief technology officer. Ziggeo has offices in North America, South America and EMEA. 

“Video is the fastest growing channel where consumers spend time to consume and create content,” said Harry Kargman, founder and CEO at Kargo in a statement. “Video innovation across the open web has been stagnant, and we plan to disrupt the industry with new ideas and formats for advertisers and content creators.”

Kargo creates digital advertising and content experiences across mobile, desktop, video and social platforms. Through the Ziggeo acquisition, the company will focus on building a next-generation, ad-supported video player that will create a marketplace of advertising opportunities for publishers and content opportunities for creators. 

Kargo’s acquisition spree comes as the digital advertising world enters a new phase, in which changes in privacy protocols are diminishing the effectiveness of ad-supported platforms like Meta and other channels, including retail media, vie for advertisers’ attention. 

While terms of the Ziggeo deal were not disclosed, Kargman told Adweek that all four of the recent acquisitions (including Parsec, StitcherAds and Rhombus) cost $75 million in cash and equity up-front costs. The Wall Street Journal reported the StitcherAd acquisition was valued at $64 million.