As reported in this blog a few weeks ago, there was a rumour circulating in the industry that Buy.at, the affiliate network division of AOL advertising had been put up for sale. This morning it has been confirmed that Digital Window a majority owned subsidary of Germany’s Axel Springer and holding company for Affiliate Window has purchased a majority stake in Perfiliate the parent company of Buy.at for an undisclosed sum. The announcement on the Digital Window blog is available here.

There has been speculation for some time that the European affiliate industry was due for some consolidation, and this could be seen as part of the move towards consolidation. How the market will take two of the larger players combining forces of course remains to be seen. To me this seems like it could go one of two ways, yes the economies of scale help increase the new organisation’s reach in the market and hold on the client base.

I think there is a danger if one major player is effectively removed from the market, it does open a lot of opportunities for those looking to enter into the market. Of course only time will tell, and whether epanding into the mature and crowded UK marketplace was a better option than buying into a less developed but smaller market was the correct choice.

I would of course be very keen to get anyone elses opinion on how this could affect the market and would love your comments.

Rob, MD, One