Tacoda

Tacoda Inc. operated as a pioneering online advertising company, establishing a significant footprint in the behavioral targeting sector. Founded in 2001 by Dave Morgan, the firm was at the forefront of developing technology to serve advertisements based on users' online behaviors and interests. Morgan, a lawyer by training who previously founded Real Media, Inc., leveraged his experience from serving as General Counsel at the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association to aggregate local media for scaled national advertising buys. This background was instrumental in shaping Tacoda's strategy.

The company's core business was providing behavioral targeting technology and services. Its flagship product, the Audience Management System launched in 2002, enabled the tracking of user behaviors like website visits and content interactions to create audience segments for advertisers. This allowed for the delivery of personalized ads to users deemed most receptive, irrespective of the specific page they were currently viewing. Tacoda's business model involved partnering with a vast network of websites, which grew to include 4,000 partners such as The New York Times Co. and Tribune, reaching over 120 million internet users. Revenue was generated through this ad network, which offered advertisers access to these profiled audiences. In 2005, the company expanded its reach by launching Tacoda Audience Networks, a behaviorally targeted ad network that extended its capabilities to a broader group of advertisers.

A significant milestone in Tacoda's history was its acquisition by AOL on September 6, 2007. The deal, rumored to be valued between $200 and $300 million, highlighted a period of intense consolidation in the online advertising market, with major players like Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo also making significant acquisitions. For AOL, acquiring Tacoda was a strategic move to enhance its advertising capabilities and compete more effectively in the burgeoning behavioral targeting space. Following the acquisition, Dave Morgan served for a time as Executive Vice President of Global Advertising Strategy at AOL before founding his next venture, Simulmedia.

Keywords: behavioral targeting, online advertising network, ad tech, audience segmentation, digital advertising, contextual advertising, Dave Morgan, AOL acquisition, ad serving, audience profiling, Real Media, personalized ads, online marketing, publisher monetization, ad network, user data, internet advertising, website monetization, display advertising, ad technology