Consolidation in the mobile ad industry showed no signs of slowing in 2013, with 22 significant mergers and acquisitions as of November 2013, according to Mooreland Partners, an advisory firm.
That put 2013 on pace with the previous three years, which saw at least 19 deals annually, according to Mooreland. In 2009, at the height of the recession, the mobile ad industry only saw nine notable deals.
Mooreland notes that many deals in the mobile ad industry have been triggered by large tech companies' efforts to "verticalize through M&A," and push into mobile ad niches they haven't yet encompassed. Many of the year's biggest deals fit into that narrative.
- AOL's purchase of cross-platform video ad server, Adap.tv for $405 million.
- Twitter's acquisition of MoPub for a reported $350 million gave it a mobile ad exchange.
- Millennial Media bought Jumptap, a mobile ad exchange, for $261 million.
- Facebook snapped up AtlasDMT's cross-device ad campaign measurement capabilities for $100 million.
Mooreland believes that the trend toward purchases of ad technologies like mobile exchanges and real-time bidding platforms will continue in 2014.
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Here's a look at activity in the mobile ad industry from the perspective of financing and investments, i.e. how much money was raised in the year.
From that perspective, activity in the sector has tapered off. In 2013, Mooreland counted 57 investments totaling $182 million, as of November. Last year, there was $342 million invested.
That's an indication that venture capital firms who piled money into the space earlier may be looking for exits — through mergers and acquisitions, or IPOs — rather than seeking to increase investments.
Indeed, this year saw a couple of IPOs of companies involved with mobile advertising, including Tremor,RocketFuel, and Criteo.