Rakuten Marketing Acquires Attribution Firm DC Storm

Today, Rakuten Marketing announced it has acquired UK-based marketing attribution firm DC Storm. DC Storm brings an attribution, measurement and reporting platform and analytics tools to Rakuten’s cadre of digital advertising services.

Attribution technology is designed to help marketers understand what how particular ad formats and channels contribute to sales. Attribution platforms typically allow marketing teams to change the mix of marketing channels they track without having to rely on developer and IT resources. DC Storm was founded in 2004 “Instead of relying on black box algorithms or machine learning, we combined deep analytics and expertise to present data in meaningful ways that clients can easily understand,” said Seth Richardson, CEO of DC Storm.

“As one of the pioneers in attribution, analytics and tag management, DC Storm directly addresses the number one issue facing today’s digital marketers – transparency and independent analysis of campaign performance,” said Yaz Iida, Rakuten Marketing CEO in the announcement. “DC Storm’s technology and expertise provide the clarity needed by CMOs to make the most effective and most profitable decisions. This acquisition fulfills our promise to bring empowerment to the digital marketing environment through increased transparency.”

The deal marks the third for an attribution firm in a matter of weeks. Google acquired attribution technology provider Adometry which will be integrated with Google Analytics Premium. AOL scooped up attribution modeling company Convertro to power its platforms such as Adap.tv.

The service will now operate as Rakuten DC Storm. Employees will stay with the company and it will continue to be headquartered in Brighton. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Also under the New York City-headquartered Rakuten Marketing umbrella are performance marketing network, LinkShare, ad retargeting firm MediaForge, Rakuten Search a search engine marketing company, and product feed aggregator PopShops.