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Rumors of Microsoft buying Claria and the Potential Impact on SEM and Publisher Networks

Jun 30, 2005
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The rumors are flying tonight that Microsoft is in talks to buy Claria. If true, the assumption is that Microsoft is really after Claria’s powerful behavioral marketing technology.

With the MSN search product about to launch, Claria’s behavioral targeting ability will go a long way to help the Redmond, WA juggernaut in the battle of the search giants. I bet Google and Yahoo are watching this development closely. (And in fact, Yahoo, and I assume Google, are playing around with behavior marketing too.)


Claria has the 7th largest decision-supported database in the world behind such giants as ATT and Amazon. Claria keeps a three month transaction history on its 40+ million users. Now think about applying that database to MSN’s search powered by behavioral marketing and on all its other web properties.

No matter how you feel about Gator/Claria, it’s a marketer’s dream.

Let’s say MSN gets search right with the help of Claria’s technology and mammoth database, then launches a publisher network with Claria’s technology; this could be huge.

Filed under: Search Engine Marketing
  • http://www.molanderassoc.com Jeff Molander

    Great entry, Beth, and the ranking data is fantastic… adds valuable perspective to all of this speculation.

    More perspective as the buzz machine continues to crank:

    While this is a valuable database it’s only valuable, IMO, if it’s scrubbed and scrubbed often. This also gets into maintaining the user base (keeping data relevant, fresh) and database population. If the data population end (user base) is or becomes threatened (which one/you could argue, easily, is) you’ve got diminished value. On this front you have not only consumer backlash to factor in but, also, legislative/political momentum to overcome. If I’m buying, I’m going to be using these as negotiation points.

    Finally, how might market research-focused comScore factor in and is anyone (other than me) having flashbacks to DoubleClick’s early days?