iWorld
News Corp snaps up social video ad platform Unruly for $176 million
MUMBAI: News Corp has agreed to acquire global ad platform Unruly Holdings for a sum of approximately $176 million.
The expected purchase price for the acquisition consists of a cash payment at closing of approximately $90 million (or ?58 million), subject to certain adjustments, and up to $86 million (or ?56 million) in future consideration primarily related to payments contingent upon the achievement of certain performance objectives.
“Unruly is a feisty and creative company with a start-up sensibility that fits perfectly with our own approach to developing businesses in the digital age. The acquisition will serve as a catalyst for our brands, helping to extend our expertise in the digital and mobile video area, whether through the fast-growing realtor.com in the US, Fox Sports in Australia, News America Marketing, HarperCollins Publishers, or our market-leading mastheads around the world. Unruly complements our traditional editorial and commercial expertise with contemporary insight into how people read, watch, buy and sell in the digital era,” said News Corp CEO Robert Thomson.
“We have a track record of acquiring businesses with unique capabilities, allowing them the freedom to do what they do best, while providing a global platform to accelerate their growth and realize their potential,” he added.
Led by Unruly’s three co-founders, it will operate as a separate business unit, reporting to News UK CEO Rebekah Brooks.
Unruly will continue to work with its existing roster of global advertisers and publishers and collaborate with News Corp businesses around the world.
“We have always been pioneers in our field, so combining the formidable reach and resonance of our titles with their cutting-edge technology and video expertise will help accelerate our growth in this digital age,” said Brooks. “We look forward to working with one of Europe’s most highly regarded tech teams to create new premium video inventory for our News UK mastheads and other businesses, and to provide advertisers with best-in-class brand solutions across all platforms.”
Founded in 2006, Unruly is a video distribution platform and tracks video sharing and delivers verifiable video views via paid media across mobile, desktop and tablet devices. With its data set of two trillion video views and sophisticated targeting capabilities, the company uses historical sharing behavior to predict the potential for video ads to go viral across all digital touch points.
Unruly’s suite of advertising products includes: ShareRank, In-Feed advertising, In-Page advertising and Skippable In-Stream Advertising.
In the coming months, News Corp business units will begin to offer Unruly products to their advertising and agency partners. This will mean a significant increase in premium video and mobile inventory, a stronger content marketing offering and, ultimately, improved returns for News Corp’s advertisers.
Unruly’s platform has attracted top tier advertisers, including such brands as adidas, Dove, T-Mobile, Evian and Renault.
“We are absolutely delighted to join the News Corp family, and connect our scaled distribution, social data, and content optimisation tools with the premium ad inventory of News Corp businesses, and their highly-engaged audiences. It’s a tremendous milestone and an exciting new chapter for the whole Unruly team,” said Unruly co-founder and co-CEO Scott Button.
“We are incredibly grateful for the passion and dedication of the whole Unruly team that has today resulted in this phenomenal opportunity for the business. Unruly’s enthusiasm for transforming video advertising and our agile development culture will continue to drive our innovative approach towards digital marketing as we help advertisers reconnect with consumers and future-proof their video strategy,” added Unruly co-founder and co-CEO Sarah Wood.
Unruly’s third co-founder is chief technology officer Matt Cooke.
Unruly employs 200 people in 15 offices, and regional hubs in London, New York and Singapore.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed by the end of September.
e-commerce
Instamart gold dig event at Hussain Sagar goes viral
Hyderabad activation ties to gold price lock offer ahead of Akshaya Tritiya
MUMBAI: All that glitters isn’t just gold, it’s also great marketing. A quirky on-ground activation by Instamart at Hussain Sagar Lake has turned into a viral spectacle, with videos of people digging for gold coins flooding social media feeds this week. The campaign, executed in collaboration with Moms, transformed a patch of the city’s iconic lakefront into what online users quickly dubbed a “mini gold rush”. Armed with spades, participants dug through a mud-filled pit in search of hidden gold coins, an activity that drew crowds, cameras and plenty of commentary online, ranging from amused disbelief to outright fascination.
At the heart of the frenzy was a promotional push for Instamart’s ‘Gold Price Lock’ feature, which allows users to secure prevailing gold rates between April 10 and April 16 and complete their purchase later during Akshaya Tritiya, a period traditionally associated with high gold buying. The mechanic cleverly blended physical participation with digital conversion, turning curiosity into a potential transaction.
Branded as ‘Gold Diggers’, the activation leaned into gamified engagement. Those who struck lucky walked away with coins, those who didn’t were nudged with a simple message: lock the price now, buy later. The result was a steady stream of footfall and a surge in user-generated content, as onlookers and participants alike documented the spectacle.
The timing is significant. India remains one of the world’s largest consumers of gold, with demand peaking around Akshaya Tritiya. Data from the World Gold Council suggests the festival alone accounts for roughly 25–30 tonnes of gold purchases annually, making it a high-stakes window for brands looking to tap into consumer sentiment.
As the ‘Gold Price Lock’ feature remains live until April 16, the campaign has already done its job turning a simple product feature into a citywide moment. Because sometimes, the quickest way to get people talking about gold isn’t to sell it, it’s to make them dig for it.
