Direct Response Technologies, the company behind DirectTrack affiliate management software acquired by Digital River.
I was informed by a friend and loyal reader that us bloggers were slacking by not covering this sooner. Digital River, the $1.15 billion dollar e-commerce company, announced today their $15 million acquisition of Direct Response.
Direct Response earns most of its revenue from its ASP, turn key affiliate management software. They are the DoubleClick of affiliate management software - helping companies who wish to (for lack of a better word) broker ads - keep track of revenue and payouts. Their business is similar to Commission Junction and Linkshare except they focused less on creating their own marketplace and more enabling other companies, such as CPA Empire, to have their own. They've been a wildly successful choice for those in need of tracking software to manage ads and affiliates, but their $15 million price tags certainly leads me to wonder whether they didn't quite have the business model down. Market leading technology is often not shared with others. Digital River I imagine is most interested in the distribution relationships that Direct Track has access to, even indirectly. The $15 million is a bargain considering the competitive intelligence Digital River now has. A one point increase in their stock price, and they've practically paid for the acquisition.
Outside links:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060125/20060125005692.html?.v=1
http://biz.yahoo.com/bizj/060125/1219967.html?.v=1
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