Oracle acquires Datalogix to track ad effectiveness

In 2014, Oracle beat out Facebook, Adobe Systems, and TV ratings agency AC Nielsen to acquire Datalogix for an estimated $1.2 billion. At the time, DataLogix, which provides data on offline consumer spending to digital marketers to enable them to track the effectiveness of their ads, had estimated revenues of about $125 million but was unprofitable. At the time of acquisition, Datalogix had 650 customers including 82 of the top 100 US advertisers and 7 of the top 8 media publishers, and covered $2 trillion in consumer spending. Oracle is thought to have paid a higher-than-expected price as much to keep Datalogix out of competitors' hands as for the capabilities it brought. After the US Department of Justice approved the merger within three weeks, a group of civil society organisations, including the Center for Digital Democracy, US PIRG, Consumer Watchdog, and Public Citizen called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the impact on the US public of growing consolidation in consumer offline and online data sources and digital marketing applications.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/deloitte/2018/07/23/changing-minds-without-twisting-arms/

https://www.democraticmedia.org/content/big-data-gets-bigger-consumer-and-privacy-groups-call-ftc-play-greater-role-data-mergers

tags: Oracle, Datalogix, DoJ, FTC, cross-channel linking, advertising, tracking

Writer: Trefis Team; Jeff Chester

Publication: CDD; Forbes