Gannett acquires social media provider Ripple6

Gannett Co., Inc., a leading international news and information company, has acquired Ripple6, Inc., a leading provider of social media services. Ripple6 will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Gannett and will continue to offer its best of breed social media technology and analytics not only to Gannett but also to an array of top tier marketers and Web publishers. Terms were not disclosed.

“From the moment we began working with Ripple6, we realized we had found a company that is richly innovative and can change the way social media is offered and monetized online,” said Craig Dubow, chairman, president and CEO of Gannett. “Ripple6 will join our other enterprises in fueling the rapid growth of our digital business, which seeks to apply innovative technology and content solutions to the needs of all our customers. With the Ripple6 platform, we can help users create communities and connect with their friends and family in highly pleasing ways, while providing marketers with innovative advertising opportunities and measurable results.”

Ripple6 currently powers Gannett’s MomsLikeMe.com sites, which recently rolled out in 80 local markets across the country and have more than one million moms visiting each month. The company also powers social media properties for Procter & Gamble and the soon to be launched MixingBowl.com, Meredith Corporation’s social network around meals and meal planning.

Using the Ripple6 platform, publishers can offer their users advanced social networking capabilities, while generating incremental revenue through Ripple6’s proprietary social marketing innovations. Ripple Analytics will also help publishers better understand how their users interact within social networks by offering a true word of mouth measurement and mapping capability.

Ripple6 also offers unique opportunities to advertisers and marketers. Among the innovations are offerings that make it possible for marketers to effectively engage in online social networks. Cloud Communities™ enable marketers to participate in their customers’ existing social networks by creating and syndicating communities across the web. With Social Insights™, marketers can conduct ongoing research within the private spaces of social networks. Both solutions include Ripple Analytics for access to metrics and insights beyond page views and visitors, while still protecting the privacy of the individuals interacting with the platform.

See the complete announcement here