OpenWeb Acquires Global Advertising Platform ADYOULIKE For $100M

Israeli firm OpenWeb, which develops an audience interaction platform for publishers, announced on Tuesday it was acquiring France-based ADYOULIKE, a global advertising platform.

The acquisition of ADYOULIKE was made by OpenWeb for a mix of cash and stock with a total value of $100 million.

The acquisition connects OpenWeb’s network of more than 1,000 top-tier publishers, including Forbes, Newsweek, and Refinery29, with ADYOULIKE’s technology, delivering brand placements to engaged communities through innovative social advertising experiences. This acquisition will bolster OpenWeb’s positioning as a complete, end-to-end operating system (OS) for the open internet, the Israeli company said in a statement.

“With our acquisition of ADYOULIKE, we’re bringing capabilities previously reserved for the walled gardens to the open internet, taking another step closer to making our vision a reality,” OpenWeb wrote in an announcement on their website.

ADYOULIKE was launched in Paris in 2011 by Julien Verdier, Yohan Elmaalem, Francis Turner, and Dale Lovell. Today, it works with over 4,000 brands, agencies, and publishers including The Guardian, Reach, Prisma Media and Groupe Marie-Claire.

“Over the last seven years, OpenWeb has partnered with top-tier media to build thousands of healthy, engaged, loyal communities,” said Nadav Shoval, CEO and co-founder of OpenWeb. “Our acquisition of ADYOULIKE will allow us to leverage consent-based, first-party data and connect the most engaged communities on the web with brands, powering a more sustainable web.”

ADYOULIKE’s established reputation in the European market, and their experienced leadership team, will further propel OpenWeb’s scale, providing another entrypoint into the global marketplace, OpenWeb said.

Following the acquisition, Julien Verdier will join OpenWeb’s executive team as the company’s General Manager of Advertising. ADYOULIKE’s more than 70 employees will also join OpenWeb, bringing global headcount to nearly 300, with new offices in Paris and London.

“It’s been an incredible experience building ADYOULIKE from the ground up with my co-founders,” said Julien Verdier. “Today, we start a new chapter. We are thrilled to join OpenWeb—a company with a powerful and important mission—and our team is excited to find innovative ways to power solutions for the open internet.”