OAKLAND, Calif. — Pandora made news today when it announced that it is acquiring AdsWizz.
Founded in 2008, San Mateo, Calif.-based AdsWizz is focused on digital audio advertising, with programmatic “self-serve” ad-buying a core part of the platform, which “explains its appeal to a company like Pandora,” according to venturebeat.com.
Pandora is paying $145 million for AdsWizz, “at least” 50% of which will be paid in cash, with the remainder payable in cash or stock. The company said advertisers will eventually be able access AdsWizz’s marketplace through Pandora and other audio publishers, meaning that Pandora is “keeping AdsWizz alive for potential rivals to use,” according to the same article.
Pandora’s Q4 2017 financials indicate that revenue was up seven percent year-over-year, while its subscribers grew by 25% over the previous year. That news pushed its stock up marginally, but its share price of $5 is still down dramatically from its 2014 peak of $37.