Unicast buys ailing ad company

Unicast, one of the chief providers of audio and video advertisements on the Web, has acquired some assets of Enliven, a Net ad pioneer previously owned by defunct cable-access provider Excite@Home. Enliven had been struggling to find a buyer in recent months after severe contraction in the online ad market. New York-based Unicast, whose pop-up ads, or superstitials, are widely used by traditional marketers, bought Enliven's campaign management platform, among other assets. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Under the deal, Unicast will integrate into its products Enliven tools that help marketers track the effectiveness of advertisements using Macromedia's Flash technology. Unicast plans to provide complete support for existing Enliven campaigns until they are completed and retain several Enliven employees during the transition. Enliven's interim CEO, Scott Kliger, will remain with Sage Hill Partners, Enliven's lead investor. --Stefanie Olsen, Special to ZDNet News