WPP eyes internet ad service company 24/7 Real Media

by Staff, Brand Republic 25-Apr-07, 16:00

LONDON - WPP is one of the suitors for the internet advertising services company 24/7 Real Media, according to a report in the New York Post, mirroring the $3.1bn deal signed by Google for Doubleclick earlier this month.

24/7 Real Media is up for sale and is expected to fetch more than $600m (£300m). It was founded in 1995 and is currently publicly quoted on the US Nasdaq exchange.

The company provides digital ad management services including targeting, tracking, analytics and search marketing strategy.

It is a rival to DoubleClick, which was acquired by Google two weeks ago for $3.1bn, building fears that Google is becoming too dominant in the internet advertising space.

WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell has revealed he is concerned about the combination of the two companies and how much advertiser data they would share between themselves.

"Google is a short-term friend and a long-term enemy and probably the shorter term just got a little bit shorter and the longer term got a bit closer as a result of the DoubleClick acquisition," he said last week.