For those that know me, they be able to tell you that gossip is something far from my lips, mainly because I’m too busy emailing everyone I know to stop and chat about it. The current piece of gossip is a rumour I’ve picked up, and I have stress that this is only a rumour and I have no way of knowing whether it is true, is that the affiliate network, Buy.at is up for sale.

Buy.at was brought a couple of years ago by AOL, following their abortive takeover attempt of TradeDoubler. It was soon touted as being part of their paradigm shifting Platform-A online advertising solution. With the abandonment of the Platform-A concept and the seemingly endless, ongoing restructure of the AOL advertising business it was perhaps inevitable that Buy.at’s position within the group would be examined.

Should the rumour prove to be true, it will be interesting to see whether the company can actually be sold, and what would a potential buyer look like. Perhaps Axel Springer, owners of Zanox and half owners of Affiliate Window could be tempted, so as to shore up their position in the UK. Perhaps TradeDoubler could be interested, not only would they get access to the client roster, but this would give them a toe hold in the US affiliate space.

Perhaps even a super affiliate such as Quidco could be interested, giving themselves access to a whole load of clients directly and enabling them to cut out the middle man. It’s always fun to speculate, but only time will tell if they are indeed up for sale and then who the potential purchasers could be.

Rob, MD, One