Ziff Davis Buys Tech Deals Site LogicBuy; Launches Ad Targeting Platform BuyerBase

When former Time Inc. executive Vivek Shah and private equity firm Great Hill Partners bought Ziff Davis back in June, it was assumed that Shah and his expertise would help breathe new life into the troubled technology publisher. Today, Ziff Davis’ new leadership and direction is becoming apparent with the acquisition of technology deals and coupon site LogicBuy and the launch of an ad targeting platform BuyerBase.

With the acquisition of LogicBuy.com, Ziff Davis will provide visitors with contextual deals and coupons related to the products they’re researching. The company will also partner with tech manufacturers and retailers to add more deals to LogicBuy’s database. Last year, LogicBuy.com received over ten million visitors looking for deals on laptops, cameras, TVs and software.

Ziff Davis operates nine properties including PCMag.com, ExtremeTech, GearLog, GoodCleanTech, DL.tv, AppScout, CrankyGeeks, Smart Device Central and TechSaver.com, which the company says reach over 7 million users per month.

Another avenue Ziff Davis is exploring is ad targeting. Today, the company is launching BuyerBase, an ad targeting platform that analyzes real-time, anonymous data from more than 100 tech content and commerce sites, including Ziff Davis’ owned-and-
operated properties as well as BuyerBase-partner websites. The company says that the new platform focuses on product-specific research and shopping activity, as opposed to
general browsing behavior.

BuyerBase will collect millions of anonymous “signals” each month to determine which products buyers are ready to purchase. This data is then applied to target relevant product offers to consumers as they surf the web by running targeted advertising across visited sites (Shah notes that users can easily opt out of targeting as well).

Shah tells us that Ziff Davis will also be mining data from its LogicBuy site as well, hoping to connect content with both e-commerce and data. And the company will also create content around deals, integrate deals on product review pages and more.

It’s not surprising that Shah has brought targeting and data into the publisher’s future strategy. He told us in June that there was a huge potential in mining purchasing intent on the family of sites. The question is, will it help turnaround the previously floundering company?