Manifest Buy Gives Rakuten Targeting Boost

Cross-channel ad specialist Rakuten Marketing has announced the acquisition of San Francisco-based product intelligence firm Manifest Commerce, which it says will boost its social advertising and ad optimization capabilities for retailers.

Manifest's API-based technology improves ad performance across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, automatically selecting likely-to-perform products from a brand's catalog, testing them within various market segments, and using the results to optimize ads in real-time. Rakuten says its integration with RTB technology from recently acquired Deep Forest Media will 'uncover new revenue opportunities within display, search and affiliate programs and across ad platforms and devices'.

Tony Zito, CEO of Rakuten Marketing, comments: 'The proportion of marketing investment into social continues to grow rapidly, yet the role consumer behavior and insights play in the purchase journey is still in its infancy, and there are huge opportunities in optimizing with product intelligence'.

According to Bob Buch, CEO of Manifest, 'Rakuten Marketing offers some of the best advertising solutions in the market. We're thrilled to combine our team and technology with their scale to help power the future of e-commerce marketing'.

The buyer is a division of Tokyo-based ISP Rakuten Inc. Rakuten Marketing is headquartered in New York City, with additional offices alsewhere in the US and in Australia, Brazil, Japan and the UK.

Web sites: www.rakutenmarketing.com and www.manifestcommerce.com .