LinkedIn acquires Israeli marketing analytics company Oribi

LinkedIn says it has entered an agreement to acquire Oribi, a six-year-old analytics company, to bolster its ad business and to establish a presence in Israel.

Why it matters: The deal will make it easier for LinkedIn's ad clients to measure how well their ads perform.

Details: Several members of the Oribi team will join LinkedIn when the deal closes, including its founder, Iris Shoor.

• Oribi specializes in measuring how well ads drive desired outcomes, like a final purchase. LinkedIn hopes to build on its current capabilities with the expertise of Oribi's staff.
• “We're doubling down on attribution to help our customers gain actionable insights and the Oribi team and technology brings deep expertise that will get us there faster," said Tomer Cohen, chief product officer of LinkedIn.
• Alongside the deal, LinkedIn said it will open up its first office in Israel, based in Tel Aviv.
• Deal terms were not disclosed.

The big picture: LinkedIn and its parent Microsoft have invested heavily in its ad business over the past year, both via acquisitions and product updates.

• Microsoft brought in $10 billion+ in ad revenue last year (excluding traffic acquisition costs), which includes ad revenue from LinkedIn. Last April, the company said Linkedin had surpassed $10 billion in yearly ad revenue.
• Microsoft acquired AT&T’s addressable ad business Xandr late last year for an undisclosed sum. It also renewed a long-term partnership with Taboola, an open-web content recommendation and ad platform.

Be smart: Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016 in a $26.2 billion deal, which at the time was its largest deal ever. LinkedIn has since operated independently,

• As it pertains to the latest deal, a spokesperson said, “LinkedIn continues to operate independently and we're excited about how this acquisition will help accelerate our attribution capabilities across our lines of business."