Sunnyvale, California-based Web pioneer Yahoo, the top worldwide online destination, has acquired the  assets of Budapest, Hungary-based Web traffic measurement company Tensa Kft, also known as IndexTools, to boost its Web analytics offerings for online marketers, Yahoo announced Wednesday. Financial terms of the acquisition of IndexTools and its Tensa R&D Kft subsidiary, which also has offices in New York and Frankfurt, were not disclosed, although it is expected to close before July, Yahoo said. Yahoo Gains Keyword Bid Management System IndexTools, founded in 2000, offers an advanced fee-based Web analytics service that competes with WebTrends and search leader Google's free Google Analytics service and Microsoft's adCenter Analytics package. IndexTools also offers a keyword bid management system that works with several online advertising platforms. Yahoo senior vice president Bassel Ojjeh commented on his firm's decision to acquire IndexTools and its underlying analytics technology. "Yahoo believes that the ability to generate the most valuable and relevant insights is essential to seizing market opportunities and creating successful campaigns," Ojjeh, who is also head of Yahoo's strategic data solutions group, said in a statement issued Wednesday. "We expect that the IndexTools' technology platform will provide our customers the opportunity to more quickly uncover and act on these insights, enhancing Yahoo's status as a partner of choice in online marketing and the must buy for the world's advertisers," added Ojjeh. Self-funded IndexTools has seen revenue growth each year since 2002 and has a high rate of customer retention, the company said, and with the acquisition Yahoo hopes to strengthen the Web metrics it can offer customers. "Their technology will give our customers tools for monitoring and analyzing websites and marketing campaigns, providing valuable insights into key metrics, traffic patterns and performance," Ojjeh noted in a Wednesday entry on the Yahoo blog. "That means consumers are more likely to see marketing content that’s engaging and relevant," added Ojjeh. Initially To Target 150,000 Small and Medium Size Customers Once the acquisition is complete Yahoo expects to first offer the IndexTools features to some 150,000 of its small and medium size business marketing customers, and later in 2008 to third party developers, Ojjeh noted. Tensa managing director Marton Szoke sees IndexTools' ability to measure large marketing campaigns as a natural addition for Yahoo. "At the IndexTools group, we have  developed a large base of global customers by delivering a reliable, scalable and comprehensive platform for monitoring and analyzing sophisticated marketing campaigns," Szoke said. "Our commitment to generating the most important insights, and placing them at our customers' fingertips, makes the IndexTools platform a wonderful match with Yahoo and we are thrilled to have this opportunity to help advance online advertising as part of one of the world's leading brands," added Szoke in the Wednesday statement. The addition of IndexTools will help strengthen Yahoo's ability to deliver a key measurement to its analytics customers, which Ojjeh described as "knowing in real time whether your campaign is working or not." Members of the online discussion forums operated by WebmasterWorld, a community of mostly technically savvy webmasters and search engine marketing (SEM) professionals founded by chief executive Brett Tabke, reacted to Microsoft's Tuesday announcement with mixed thoughts. One WebmasterWorld member sees Yahoo's addition of IndexTools as a potentially good fit. "This high end corporate solution might not be the kind of service you give away for free like Google Analytics," the member, using the handle "sudden," noted. "IndexTools also offers automated bid management software, which might also fit in nicely in the Yahoo PPC [Pay Per Click] interface," the member added. Yahoo Adds Hungary's IndexTools To Web Analytics Offerings Another forum member sees the potential for conflict with Yahoo's addition of IndexTools. "IndexTools also has hosted bid management software. It's going to be tricky because Yahoo can now get a direct peek into  merchant advertising information from Google's AdWords and Microsoft's AdCenter," the member, using the handle "mil2k," wrote. Some in the analytics industry see the acquisition as troubling, such as business optimization company Omniture vice president of channels and marketing Neil Morgan. "Once again the market has lost an independent web analytics tool and their customers a unbiased way to measure their results," Morgan noted in a recent Incisive Media IT Week report. "IndexTools always tried to compete as ‘good enough’ web analytics at a very low price, so presumably Yahoo will simply give it away and curtail its development, not great news for IndexTools customers who have been paying for their service," added Morgan. The acquisition comes comes as Yahoo faces an unknown future with Microsoft seeking to buy it through an unsolicited bid. Related Links:
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9:34 pm on April 9, 2008 (utc 0)