ValueClick buys mobile advertising network Greystripe for $70m

Claims deal will accelerate its move 'up the marketing funnel' as it gets serious about mobile.

Another one bites the dust... Greystripe has become the latest mobile advertising network to get snapped up by a bigger fish, although in this case, said fish is not the owner of a smartphone platform.

Whereas rivals AdMob and Quattro Wireless sold out to Google and Apple respectively, Greystripe has been bought by online marketing company ValueClick. The price was $70 million.

Greystripe accelerates ValueClick's move up the marketing funnel with brand advertisers and gives ValueClick Media immediate scale and expertise in the large and fast-growing mobile ad market," says ValueClick CEO Jim Zarley. "We see great traffic and revenue synergies between ValueClick and Greystripe, and we're looking forward to working closely with the Greystripe team to take full advantage of the opportunities that this combination offers."

Greystripe started life focusing on ad-funded games, before evolving into a full mobile advertising network, with a claimed reach of more than 30 million consumers across more than 3,500 apps and mobile sites. In the last year, it has been pushing its Flash-like multimedia ad units.

"Joining ValueClick positions us to accelerate our rapid growth in mobile brand advertising," says CEO Michael Chang. "We are thrilled to continue to serve our major brand clients as a mobile rich media leader while leveraging ValueClick's breadth and depth in online marketing."