From Spam Daily News
Claria exiting adware business
Posted on
March 22, 2006
Claria has hired investment bank Deutsche Bank Securities to shop around the assets and is currently in active discussions with potential buyers.
Up for sale are the software tools whose free download was supported by the GAIN ad network, including the ScreenScenes screensaver software and the DashBar search toolbar.
Claria will not be selling the technology or engine that drives the GAIN system, nor the user data affiliated with the GAIN product. The company will also hold onto its digital wallet product, Gator eWallet.
A condition of any sale of Claria's consumer software applications will be the requirement that any purchaser agrees to adhere to emerging industry standards outlined by TRUSTe and other industry coalitions.
As of July 1, the GAIN network will cease to exist and no ads will be served through the system. User data once gathered through that system to target ads in Claria's GAIN and BehaviorLink networks will no longer be used. At that time, people currently using any GAIN-related software products will be offered the chance to uninstall them, or continue using them through the new purchaser.
The decision affirms the company's ongoing shift away from its adware offerings towards the behaviorally-targeted content and advertising business.
Over the past year, Claria has focused on developing a new platform designed to provide consumers with a personalized Internet experience.
In April, Claria will unveil major partnerships around this new technology and launch the beta version of PersonalWeb, the first consumer application using this platform.
"We are delighted by both partner and market acceptance of our new personalization technologies," said Scott VanDeVelde, President and Chief Executive Officer of Claria Corporation. "This is an exciting time for Claria as we finalize plans for the beta launch of PersonalWeb and the upcoming announcement of key partnerships."
The new system will serve up personalized content and advertising to opt-in users. Claria plans on building up its PersonalWeb user base from scratch, and will not be using data from its GAIN system for the new platform.
Given this momentum, Claria will exit out of the adware business by the end of the second quarter of 2006.
Claria's decision to unload its adware assets marks another phase in its ongoing transformation from its days as controversial pop-up ad network, Gator, to a firm that hopes to gain more respect among advertisers as well as publishers.
In the past, the firm raised the ire of several large publishers including The New York Times and Dow Jones, which sued Claria for serving pop-up ads that blocked those publishers' pages.
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SOURCE: Claria Corporation