Experian, the company I know best for their free credit reports, acquired Hitwise today for approximately $240m; adding to our growing list of recent acquisitions.
Credit is by no means all for which they are known as the parent brand of well known online names including Lowermybills.com, cheetahMail, and a favorite from my old stomping grounds, PriceGrabber. The acquisition is likely an addition to Experian’s Marketing Solutions business and will hopefully supplement those subsidiary companies. Complementing Experian’s knowledge of how customers behave offline, Hitwise aggregates information from ISPs on how 25 million users use and search the Internet in the US, UK, Australia and various countries throughout Asia giving them unique insight on behavior online.
Hitwise do an incredible job in putting out some really interesting, and free, traffic data on a regular basis!
Some bloggers say Hitwise’s excellent blogging relations and talent for interacting with social media has contributed to the recent acquisition. They say this has raised revenues and thus contributed to the aquisition. More info at:: https://www.viart.com/shoppingcartsoftware/2007/04/20/hitwise-acquired-by-experian