Nielsen Acquires Vizu, Rocket Fuel Gets Funding

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Media research firm Nielson acquires Vizu.The technology company enables advertisers and publishers to assess and optimize online advertising effectiveness. This acquisition will build on Nielsen's online and cross-platform advertising campaign measurement and advertising solutions by adding real-time online effectiveness measurement.

Casale Media adds sell-side platform for publishers. The ad network said its Index Platform enables programmatic selling and private marketplaces for publishers, putting it in competition with PubMatic and Google's Admeld. Casale Media also launched Index Pulse, a real-time map of bids flowing from DSPs and agency trading desks. The bids are identified by prices and regions for the impression.

MediaMind and The Media Kitchen partner.The digital advertising solutions server MediaMind partnered with the advertising technology integrated media agency Media Kitchen.

New faces at Blip. Doug Ferguson, former general manager of digital at AdWeek, joins Blip as head of product and creative. Ferguson will be responsible for creating new products on behalf of Blip's brands, producers of original content, and audiences of online video. Jason Rapp, president of Mahalo, joins the company's board of directors.

Rocket Fuel gets $50 million.The funding round for the ad tech vendor was led by existing investor Northgate Capital, and included two new investors: Summit Partners, and Cross Creek Capital. Rocket Fuel says its technology dynamically optimizes advertising for display, video, mobile, and social media simultaneously.

Visual IQ gets $12 million.The marketing intelligence software provider received the funding from Volition Capital of Boston and existing investor Fog City Capital of San Francisco. In a statement, the company said the new funds will be used to fuel product innovation and sales growth.

Cainkade names president.The New York based software and design development firm named Eric Elia president. The former executive at Brightcove and Comcast joins the management team and expands the company's line of business with a new video practice.

Adblade grows adds new publishers. The ad network added publisher partners including The Miami Herald, Philly.com, Space.com, Forbes, The Blaze, The New York Post, The Raw Story and Townhall websites.