Published: 23 Sep 2007

BlueLithium, a venture capital-backed company based in San Jose, California, serves up ads to 145 million unique visitors a month, the companies said, citing data from online measurement firm comScore Inc. It provides tracking technology, known as “behavioural targeting”, that identifies web surfers with particular interests so the ads they see will be more interesting to them.

As per the deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter, BlueLithium will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yahoo!.

“The combination of BlueLithium’s assets and relationships with Yahoo’s overall ad network will give advertisers access to powerful data analytics, advanced targeting, and innovative direct-response buying strategies,” Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang said in a statement.

The addition of BlueLithium is the next step “in creating the largest and most effective online ad network globally, which includes inventory on Yahoo!’s owned and operated properties, the Yahoo! Publisher Network, and the Right Media Exchange, the company said.

According to an analyst, as reported by Reuters, the initiative bolsters Yahoo’s existing behavioral ad-targeting efforts with its 250 million-strong base of Yahoo Mail users and Yahoo Travel.

Founder and Chief Executive Gurbaksh Chahal will remain with BlueLithium for an “interim period” of integration, the companies said in a statement. Chalal previously had founded ClickAgents in 1998 and sold it to ValueClick for $70 million.