Ascential grabs a slice of web-tracker Jumpshot for $61 million

Media group Ascential on Monday shelled out $61 million (£49 million) for a minority stake in web-tracking firm Jumpshot, owned by cybersecurity giant Avast.

The FTSE 250 company, formerly known as Emap, will take a 35% stake in the San Francisco-based group, which tracks web clicks to analyse how people shop and browse online, with Avast owning the other 65%

Ascential can buy a further 16% from Avast in two years if it chooses and take majority control. Jumpshot’s main selling point is it “unlocks walled-garden data,” which means it can track what people are buying and clicking behind paywalls on sites like Amazon, Google and Netflix.

The company does this by using anonymised data collected from Avast software installed on people’s computers and devices. For example, Jumpshot often publishes data on the most popular shows on Netflix.

Ascential has bought the stake so it can use Jumpshot’s data to beef up the accuracy of its own web-analytics unit, Edge by Ascential.

Ascential chief Duncan Painter said: “Jumpshot is a good fit for Ascential and supports our goal to help the world’s most ambitious businesses win in the digital economy.”

Jumpshot was founded in 2015 and has large offices in the Czech Republic. Losses last year were $4.6 million.