Friends make the network

Online ad network Active Athlete Media has acquired GolfBuzz, widget and social tool maker for golf sites.

Athlete promotes brands — including Nike, Gatorade, AT&T and American Express — on sports-related websites. It provides search, social bookmarking and weather tools.

The GolfBuzz acquisition avails mapping features (such as golf course finders and driving directions), comparative rates, driving directions and social networking standards (blogging and photo-sharing) to Active Athlete advertisers.

In November Active Athlete was ranked #10 in comScore's analysis of sports networks. Unique visitors rose twentyfold, to 18 million, from January 2007.