Glam Media Kicks Off World Tour in U.K.

Female orientated vertical ad network Glam Media will officially launch its U.K. operation today, following yesterday’s announcement that it acquired U.K. digital sales firm Monetise.

Monetise’s 17 staffers will form the core of Glam Media’s U.K. operation, which will act as a hub for further European and non-U.S. expansion.

“We wanted to really accelerate our entry into the U.K. display [ad] market,” said Samir Arora, Glam Media Chairman and CEO. “We have a massive reach amongst women in the U.K. market, but no local office to serve it. This acquisition will enable us to take advantage of that.” According to Arora, Glam Media offices will also be opened in France and Japan later this year, followed by Germany, India and China in early 2009, through a combination of acquisition and local hires.

“The goal is to create a complete Glam family, and to serve publishers and advertisers in local markets. The last round of investment had already been earmarked for global expansion,” he said. The company garnered $84.6 million in private financing earlier this year.

Current Monetise clients include social movie review site Flixster, ARTISTDirect and TVGuide.co.uk, which will become flagship sites for Glam’s U.K. entertainment vertical. Other verticals in the network currently include Style and Beauty, Living, Health and Wellness, and Family.

Glam U.K. will be based out of Monetise’s London offices, but Arora doesn’t expect to stay there long, stating the U.K. office is in “rapid expansion mode.” The acquisition takes Glam’s tally of U.K. staff to 22. Alongside sales staff provided by the acquisition, an engineering and tech center will help develop and implement Glam’s targeting technology in the U.K. market. In the U.S., the firm currently offers contextual and behavioral targeting, in addition to day-parting and targeting by audience segment.

Monetise co-founders Joel Cymberg and Jon Walsh will remain with Glam Media, taking up positions of management and operations director, and entertainment sales director, respectively.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.