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Ybrant snaps up 3 Internet brands in US for $175 mn
MUMBAI: Hyderabad-based Ybrant Digital has agreed to purchase three Internet brands in the United States – PriceGrabber, LowerMyBills, and ClassesUSA.com – for a consideration of $175 million.
The acquisition will add a business of $283 million and employee strength of over 300, says Ybrant. It will also allow the digital marketing company to nearly double its current revenues.
Ybrant believes it can become the leader in many key digital marketing areas worldwide through these acquisitions.
“By adding these established brands to Ybrant, we will offer interesting new products and a world class generation platform,” said Ybrant Digital chairman and CEO Suresh Reddy.
PriceGrabber, owned by Experian, is a price comparison shopping business which powers Yahoo! and MSN shopping. LowerMyBills.com is a one-stop destination that offers savings through relationships with more than 500 service providers across multiple categories. ClassesUSA.com is the leading online higher-education portal with two million visitors and 300 accredited college and university partners.
Steve Krenzer who is president of Experian Interactive, will continue to lead the new group by joining the Ybrant Digital family. “I am very excited to join the Ybrant team. With Ybrant’s global footprint and our leading sites, the combined group will make us the pacesetter globally,” said Krenzer.
Experian Interactive is currently one of the top five Internet advertisers in the US and will give Ybrant a foothold in the US market. This is Ybrant’s second successful foray into acquiring premium destination sites. The company successfully acquired Lycos.com in 2010.
Both Experian and Ybrant are committed to completing this transaction as quickly as possible, subject to various conditions and events by Ybrant, including the initiation in trading in Ybrant Digital Limited shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
