Per Pettersen, Impact Radius’ chief executive, said in an interview that the combination of the two companies creates what he calls the first trusted system of record for marketers looking to manage digital campaigns.
Forensiq offers services to prevent ad fraud, especially on mobile devices. Last year, it issued a study on mobile device hijacking, where scammers use mobile apps such as games that run as many as 20 ads a minute, then simulate random clicks on ads.
Impact Radius’ main services are Partner Manager, which helps automate affiliate marketing, by which sites earn a commission to promote a company’s products, and Media Manager, which helps companies analyze which marketing channels are producing the best return.
Pettersen said his company, which has 275 employees, including a 70-person research and development staff, expects that Forensiq will help bolster its machine learning technologies to prevent ad fraud, estimated by the Interactive Advertising Bureau to cost advertisers $8.2 billion annually.
The companies didn’t reveal the acquisition price. Forensiq CEO David Sendroff said in an interview that the company was at a point where it needed to raise a new round of funding or merge with a strategic partner. Forensiq will continue to maintain its brand with Sendroff at the helm.
Impact Radius announced June 8 that it has raised $30 million in funding from growth equity firm Silversmith Capital Partners in Boston. Pettersen said the company doesn’t have a plan for many major acquisitions but might make one or more if the opportunity arises. Last November, the company bought ad attribution firm ClearSaleing after it was spun off from eBay Enterprise.
