Online ad giant DoubleClick Inc. Wednesday acquired Opt-In Email.com, a provider of
Internet e-mail marketing, publishing and list management.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The transaction augments DoubleClick’s (DCLK) recently launched suite of
consent-based e-mail marketing solutions. Both the acquisition and the new
product line make sense; DoubleClick has lagged behind rival 24/7 Media (TFSM) in developing e-mail marketing
mechanisms.
Opt-In Email.com delivers content-based e-mail communication programs for
more than 25 clients, including online retailers, media firms, software and
hardware companies. Clients include Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Mail.com,
ShopNow.com, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and iWon.com.
Opt-In Email.com said it can deliver more than 500,000 unique user messages
per hour and to date has delivered more than 1.3 billion e-mails.
On Monday, DoubleClick launched its e-mail strategy with a
suite of e-mail products called DARTmail. The product line is comprised of
DARTmail for Publishers and DARTmail for Advertisers, and two new media
solutions, DARTmail Prospect and DARTmail Network. Opt-In Email will be
incorporated into the DARTmail for Advertisers product, providing clients
with full-service campaign management solutions immediately.
“As we have outlined in the past, our entry into e-mail marketing was a high
priority for us,” said Kevin O’Connor, DoubleClick’s chief executive officer.
“As a result of
this transaction, we will have the ability to immediately offer our clients
an extensive e-marketing program… Opt-In Email.com’s products offers clients
highly effective tools used in building, measuring and delivering
comprehensive one-to-one marketing campaigns.”