Outbrain acquires UI optimizer AdNgin to provide personalized, interest-based recommendations

Content discovery platform Outbrain announced Tuesday that it has purchased AdNgin, a user interface (UI) optimization company specializing in personalized, interest-based recommendations.

The purchase marks the sixth acquisition for the 12-year-old company, in addition to several strategic partnerships that it says will enhance the reader experience. The company previously acquired Surphace, Scribit, Visual Revenue, Revee and Zemanta.

Outbrain says that the combined personalization technologies should drive higher RPMs for publishers, higher CTRs for marketers and a better overall experience for readers.

Asaf Porat, Outbrain’s head of global operations, said, “AdNgin removes the guesswork of digital advertising, allowing us to automate the optimization of our reader experience.”

The formal announcement was made after a six-month pilot with consistent double-digital lifts in CTR, the company says.

“Joining forces with a native powerhouse like Outbrain, which organically outperforms the competition using interest-based recommendations, couldn’t be a more perfect digital advertising match,” Amnon Lahav, AdNgin’s co-founder, said. “This is an incredibly exciting start to a high-converting content adventure, both for us, and the end consumers.”

Asaf Porat, head of global operations, said:

We are always looking for new ways to keep readers happy — whether it’s discovering relevant content or improving the overall look and feel of our recommendations. With AdNgin’s new technology, we can automate design changes without any work from our premium publishers. Super easy for publishers, better experience for readers — win-win.

As we noted in an article covering Outbrain’s acquisition of Zemanta in July 2017, Outbrain competitors Taboola and RevContent have also been on an acquisition path. In July 2016, Taboola acquired outstream video service ConvertMedia, and in January 2017, the company bought site personalization and optimization platform Commerce Sciences. In February 2017, RevContent acquired content recommendation engine Rover.

About The Author

Robin Kurzer

Robin Kurzer started her career as a daily newspaper reporter in Milford, Connecticut. She then made her mark on the advertising and marketing world in Chicago at agencies such as Tribal DDB and Razorfish, creating award-winning work for many major brands. For the past seven years, she’s worked as a freelance writer and communications professional across a variety of business sectors.