Blinkx Acquires Burst for $30M

Video search engine Blinkx is buying Internet ad firm Burst Media in an attempt to provide greater distribution for its video content. Blinkx is paying $30 million (£18.5 million) for the company.

Blinkx boasts 35 million hours of online video, and Burst’s network of publishers reaches an audience of over 130 million unique users, according to comScore. Blinkx will create content channels for Burst’s publishers, which will hopefully attract advertisers looking to reach specific demographics through Web video. The goal for the combined companies is to create the sort of reach and frequency online that keeps advertisers addicted to TV buys.

“Up until now, the primary barrier to further television advertising budgets moving online has been online video’s inability to match the sheer scale of audience that television can deliver,” said Jarvis Coffin, CEO of Burst, in a written statement.

Blinkx is banking on Burst’s large network to help boost its haul from ad sales. Burst’s attracted an average CPM of $1.49 in 2010, largely from display ads, whereas Blinkx’s CPMs for video ads were closer to $20. Combining Burst’s network with Blinkx’s video content “will be able to realize some of the differential between these two rates,” said the release.