glam

Glam Media acquires site builder Ning

Social media company Glam announced today that it has acquired social Web site builder Ning.

The two companies say the deal will create a network that serves 240 million users and 100,000 publishers.

"With the addition of Ning, Glam Media will truly become the first next-generation media company in the post-social world," said Samir Arora, chairman and CEO of Glam Media in a statement.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, though AllThingsD pegs it at $200 million.

Ning was co-founded by Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen and Gina Bianchini and launched near the end of 2005 as … Read more

Webware Radar: LoanMarket's mortage hub

LoanMarket.net announced on Monday that it has launched its online marketplace for buying and selling mortgages.

According to the company, its service allows both buyers and sellers to come together in a "neutral, open marketplace" to trade mortgages and other real-estate secured note investments.

The site has a variety of sellers, including mortgage originators, banks, and lending institutions, mortgage pool investors, small private investors, and seller carry-back note holders. All the notes listed on the site include current market value information, as well as a photo of the property taken within 14 days of the post. All … Read more

Daily Tidbits: Glam Media acquires AdaptiveAds

Content network Glam Media announced on Thursday that it has acquired AdaptiveAds, a company specializing in the targeting and optimization of display ads. Glam Media claims that its acquisition of AdaptiveAds will help it solidify its offering in the advertising market. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Glam did say disclose plans to open an office in Mumbai, India, as part of the acquisition.

PokerVibez, a service that allows users to play poker but get to know each other in the process, has launched in private beta. According to the company, users can sign up for the … Read more

Glam Media launches Brash for the boys

Four years after women's media and advertising network Glam Media made its debut, the company has announced its male counterpart: Brash.

Like Glam, it's an editorial hub with both original and partner content, but more importantly, it's a "publisher network" of sites that run Brash ads.

Looking at Brash's smooth, purple-and-charcoal-gray color scheme, you can tell this isn't the same sort of male demographic targeted by the fratty Heavy ad network. Like Glam, Brash aims for upscale audiences--that way, it can charge higher click-through rates. One of the advertisers on the mockup of … Read more

Glam Media replaces chief financial officer

Could an initial public offering be on the way for the highly ambitious Glam Media? The Valley-based advertising and media company has hired a new chief financial officer, Stephen E. Recht, who was the CFO of photo-printing site Shutterfly when it went public in 2006.

Recht replaces Ernie Cicogna, a co-founder of Glam. Cicogna will remain with the company as executive vice president of Glam Partners and general manager of the Glam Publisher Network.

"(Glam) has perfected a unique media business model and established itself as the leader in vertical content networks online," Recht said in a release. &… Read more

Glam's next target: Market-blithe brand lovers

Glam Media, that digital-ad company that keeps expanding beyond its original base of celebrity gossip and fashion, has launched a new section: Glam Luxury, targeting high-end brand enthusiasts and the ad dollars that love them.

At launch, the headlining advertiser is (you guessed it), Swarovski, the jewel manufacturer that spawned a zillion awful iPhone cases.

So far, there are 35 participating sites geared toward affluent audiences that have agreed to be part of Glam Luxury and run its ads in exchange for some perks, like syndication in a Glam e-newsletter and access to a revenue-sharing video platform. Among the third-party … Read more

Glam Media's newest section targets African Americans

Glam Media, the female-oriented advertising and blog resource firm that has stirred both conversation and controversy in Silicon Valley and Madison Avenue, plans to announce on Thursday a "channel" for blogs geared toward African American audiences.

Called Glam Black Life, the new content area joins existing channels like fashion, beauty, entertainment, family, and the most recent addition, "wellness." Like the others, Glam Black Life serves ads on blogs that have been accepted into the network, and see their content featured on the Glam.com homepage and e-mail newsletter. And like other Glam niches, Black Life is … Read more

Former DoubleClick exec to head Glam Media's Japan division

Glam Media has continued its international expansion, appointing former DoubleClick and Excite executive Yukihiro Yamamura as CEO of its Glam Japan division. Glam Japan hasn't actually launched yet, but is slated to go live later this year.

Yamamura had been head of DoubleClick Japan previously, and before that he had been CEO of Excite Japan since 1999.

"The appointment of Yukihiro Yamamura is a strategic addition to the Glam team as we continue to leverage the fragmentation of the Web globally," Glam CEO Samir Arora said in a release Monday. "With an accomplished background in online … Read more

Glam channel targets hybrid-driving yoga moms

One thing's for sure: Glam Media isn't letting that $85 million funding round sit around and ferment.

The latest of many announcements from the don't-call-it-an-ad-network media firm is that it has launched a "Wellness" division, opening up its ad services to sites in the health, fitness, and "green" niches.

With hippie food brand SoyJoy as a sponsor, Glam's Wellness channel has already ushered in about 20 sites that deal with "mind-body-spirit, empowerment, and a healthy planet," according to a release Monday. Among them are BeThree, Conscious Living TV, Ecofabulous, Low Impact Living, … Read more