Merging United Internet Media’s TGP targeting solution with our technology: what does it mean?
by Torsten Ahlers | October 22nd, 2009 | Category: data privacy, in the news, inside wunderloop, online marketing, this is wunderloop |
Today, a project we’ve been working on for the past few weeks become public: We are taking over TGP, United Internet Media’s targeting unit. The news will be spread over a number of tickers today, and we will be issuing a joint press release with United Internet Media shortly. However, I would like to take this opportunity to explain this deal in greater detail and put it in context.
So, we are taking over TGP. This means, immediately and from a longer-term perspective:
A new product. “Offer the best targeting product” is one of my most urgent goals for wunderloop. The TGP takeover will enable us to offer all our customers even better targeting solutions. TGP will from now on be distributed and operated by us. A year from now, a new product will be finished, whose name I do not know yet. But more important than its name, after all, is what it will be capable of doing. The new product will combine wunderloop’s real-time strength with TGP’s outstanding predictive technology – two complementary elements will be combined into a new whole that is better than the sum of its parts.
A market standard, within reach. Another big goal of mine is that we finally agree on some standards in targeting that will allow advertisers, agencies and marketers to use the same systems, which increases efficiency and benefits everyone involved. Merging TGP with our system is one step in this direction. Our products are already dominant in targeting for publishers, telcos, agencies, mobile and IPTV. Together with existing customers like Interactive Media, UIM, TomorrowFocus, AOL, IP (RTL), Bauer, Pilot, OMD , we can achieve these standards in the near future and make targeting far more efficient than it already is.
wunderloop remains independent. One thing that was important to me from the start in this deal: UIM gets no exclusive rights - the merged product and all future developments will be equally available for all of our customers. We remain independent as wunderloop and will continue to be a completely neutral provider.
Traditional value chain. In this connection, I’d like to emphasise once more that I believe in the traditional value chain, in which agencies act as the advertisers’ brokers. We will continue to develop products that are tailored to the needs and requirements of agencies. For marketers, we will put together marketer-specific offers: here, TGP technology will play an exclusive role. Let me mention the standards yet again: in the long run, isolated applications by individual players will accomplish less than a compatible targeting technology by a neutral vendor.
Minority stake. I’ve made it quite clear what this deal does for us. But what about UIM or 1&1? 1&1 Internet AG will receive a minority stake in wunderloop and will thus profit from the growing targeting market as a shareholder. UIM has a vital vested interest in our continued independence, as precisely this is one of our strengths.
German Engineering. So far I have written about Germany. But of course we will subsequently roll out our new, top-of-the-line product and the new standard to the other countries where we already do business: UK, France, Spain, Italy, Holland. Others will follow and we will do our part to defend our country’s title as the export world champion…with top-quality German engineering 
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Torsten Ahlers
Chief Executive Officer