Transactional advertising network provider Adgregate Markets, a finalist at the most recent TechCrunch50 conference, has announced that it has recently acquired Gydget, a venture-backed startup in the widget business.
Gydget, which powers a platform for fan-driven, viral widgets primarily centered around entertainment and consumer brands, will be folded into Adgregate’s ShopAds, a fairly innovative advertising network that enables customers to complete secure transactions within Flash-based ad banners. Adgregate Markets seems to be onto something, recently proven by the fact that the company scored a distribution deal with Google’s DoubleClick, enabling advertisers on that platform to integrate ShopAds widgets with just a few mouse-clicks.
The press release boasts about the Gydget ad network currently reaching more than 30 million impressions per month, and also mentions ShopAds widgets have currently been installed 200,000 times.
While the acquisition makes sense on the surface, when you dig a little deeper you’ll note that Gydget seemed to be running out of fuel anyway (not surprising considering the economy we’re in and the general slow-down of the widget business): backed by over $1 million in venture capital from Felicis Ventures and Sunbridge Partners, its founder and CEO Gerardo Capiel recently bailed the company to become VP Product Management for MySpace (presuming he still has that job today, considering the massive lay-off round announced yesterday).
The terms of Gydget’s acquisition were not disclosed.