Adobe may be best known for its media creation software Photoshop and Flash Builder, but ita4��a4�s now showing more interest in the advertising market and just announced that it has acquired a data startup called Demdex.

Adobe acquired analytics company Omniture for $1.8 billion in September 2009, explaining the move as a way to give Adobe customers the tools they need to make money from their content. By July of last year Adobe said Omniture was already accounting for 10 percent of its revenue.

Demdexa4��a4�s technology will be added to Adobe&'s Omniture products. Demdex pulls audience data from a number of sources, including your website, advertising campaigns, and data sellers, so that advertisers can target their ads to a specific group. In its press release, Adobe emphasized how important this kind of audience targeting is becoming for publishers and advertisers.

a4��AWith the addition of Demdex, the Adobe Online Marketing Suite will enable advertisers to be smarter with their advertising spend and publishers to leverage their audience data to generate more revenue,a4��� said Brad Rencher, vice president and general manager of Adobea4��a4�s Omniture business unit. a4��AWith audience optimization, Adobe is literally changing how online ads are bought and sold.a4���

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Demdex last raised $6 million in funding from Shasta Ventures, First Round Capital, and Genacast Ventures.

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Tags: audience targeting, online advertising

Companies: Adobe, Demdex, First Round Capital, Genacast ventures, Shasta Ventures

Tags: audience targeting, online advertising

Companies: Adobe, Demdex, First Round Capital, Genacast ventures, Shasta Ventures

Anthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.

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