Pheedo Acquires Blogsnob Ad Exchange

Syndicated feed advertising player Pheedo has expanded its capabilities by acquiring the Blogsnob ad exchange. Through the acquisition, the company plans to integrate blog and RSS ad serving into a single platform.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Blogsnob is a free service that allows members to exchange ads and therefore promote their blogs or personal sites across a network of other member sites. The company also began taking paid advertising in August.

“Blogsnob enables its members to harness the power of Weblog advertising and its technologies complement Pheedo’s ongoing mission of making it easy and profitable for publishers and advertisers alike to tap into the loyal but fragmented blog and RSS market,” said Bill Flitter, Pheedo’s chief marketing officer, in a statement.

With the acquisition, Pheedo also brings aboard new talent, namely Adam Kalsey, CEO of Blogsnob and an independent consultant. Kalsey will become CTO of Pheedo as part of the deal. In his Weblog, Kalsey said joining Pheedo would allow him to bring on developers to help build the platform.

“There’s a slew of new features slated for the ad exchange and some very interesting things we’re working toward with the RSS ad server,” wrote Kalsey.

Advertising on blogs and RSS feeds, though still very small, has been one of the most closely watched parts of the industry. Blogs have undeniably grown in popularity and influence, sparking advertiser interest. Meanwhile, mainstream publishers have adopted the RSS and Atom syndication formats, with many turning to advertising as a means of monetizing these offerings.

The company plans to launch its integrated blog and feed advertising platform in October, giving advertisers a single interface for creating and tracking an ad campaign across both formats. At that time, Blogsnob will be re-branded as the Pheedo SimpleAd Exchange.

To help the company move forward, Pheedo has added well-known blogger Chris Pirillo, of Lockergnome, to its board of advisors. Dave Nielson, who works at eBay’s PayPal, is also joining the Pheedo board.