Online advertising firm Adknowledge this week announced that Technology Crossover Ventures has invested $48 million to acquire a minority stake in the company, reports Red Herring. Adknowledge, seeking to expand as an ad network catering primarily to small and midsize businesses, will open offices in New York and San Francisco and expand its 65-person headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri.
Adknowledge sells online ads on a cost-per-click basis and relies on behavioral targeting and automated customization, serving ads to consumers on a webpage based on their online browsing patterns.
The company wants a bigger piece of the online ad market, which JupiterResearch forecast will grow to about $19 billion by 2010. More aggressively, Piper Jaffray predicts the industry could reach $55 billion over the next four years.
