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MediaMath, the leading global digital media-buying platform, and Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), today announced MediaMath's acquisition of Akamai's Advertising Decision Solutions (ADS) data cooperative which will augment MediaMath's industry-leading Data Management Platform (DMP).

With today's news, the companies have also signed a multi-year relationship whereby MediaMath will have exclusive rights to leverage Akamai's pixel-free technology for use within digital advertising and marketing applications.

As part of the agreement, MediaMath will acquire substantially all of the assets associated with Akamai's ADS business, and will integrate the Akamai ADS team into its workforce.

"MediaMath's exclusive use of Akamai's pixel-free technology will enable clients to scale their business more effectively, and help us make that happen quickly," said Joe Zawadzki, MediaMath CEO. "We're thrilled to welcome such a talented group of technologists, data scientists and online advertising professionals from Akamai's ADS team. The technology and talent, along with the data co-op, will further improve our platform's capabilities, and further improve our clients' business results."

"We're excited to partner with MediaMath," said Mike Afergan, Akamai's Senior Vice President & General Manager of the Web Experience Division. "Together, we'll be able to provide our joint customers with an even more effective set of tools to manage their data, understand their audience, and help enhance the quality of online marketing campaigns."

As a result of the pixel-free technology partnership, MediaMath's clients will gain access to more data for audience segmentation, retargeting, and optimization, with quick and easy activation. Advertisers currently on the Akamai Platform will not have to integrate other pixels for audience and media performance tracking when using TerminalOne, removing significant workflow and technology hurdles facing media buyers and other technology platforms.

Pixel-free also provides advertisers the ability to capture audience and transaction intelligence from 100 percent of their online pages. This is a major increase compared to the 30 percent of traffic capture achieved by pixel-based systems. The pixel-free approach is consistent with privacy best practices, offering consumers a simple opt out choice.

MediaMath's acquisition of the Akamai data co-op allows advertisers to improve the effectiveness and sophistication of audience analysis while using predictive insights to drive greater marketing performance across digital channels. Advertisers will also be able to build and leverage their own bespoke data co-ops. The co-op platform will continue to enable advertisers to control exactly how their data is used, bringing a level of efficiency and transparency not available through existing co-ops or opaque networks.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. LUMA Partners acted as exclusive financial advisor to Akamai.