Web Video Play Joost Calls It Quits, Sold to Ad Firm

Struggling Web video firm Joost has agreed to an acquisition offer from Adconion Media Group, a global advertising and media network.

“Video is a top priority for our company,” Adconion CEO Tyler Moebius said in a statement.

Launched in 2007, Joost began as an Internet TV service, and struck partnerships with major content providers such as Viacom and CBS struggled to make a go of it amid the rise of Hulu and YouTube’s steady addition of premium content.

“Over the past few months we have been actively exploring strategic options for Joost, and have concluded that the sale of certain of its assets to Adconion is in the best interests of Joost,” Janus Friis, a co-founder of the video site, said in a statement.

In June, Joost announced a round of layoffs along with a strategy to refocus on “white-label” video content and search for new lines of revenue beyond advertising.

Adconion said it plans to preserve the premium content model Joost announced in June, saying that the acquisition will incorporate videos from more than 2,000 publishers into its library, which it monetizes through pre-roll ads.

“This acquisition immediately brings additional scale and content to the Adconion video pre-roll network for clients who are looking for a safe, cost-effective alternative to achieve the maximum value of online video advertising,” Moebius said.

Adconion claims to reach nearly 300 million unique global users each month, serving more than 80 million video streams each day across a network of around 2,000 Web sites.

Adconion plans to continue to operate Joost.com as a standalone Web site and preserve the branding.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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