Odeo (formerly known as Sonic Mountain) has acquired FireAnt – a podcast and Vodcast directory. TechCrunch reports the acquisition to be worth $400,000.
Acquiring Technology – Not Users
By purchasing FireAnt, Odeo has gained the FireAnt desktop media player for Windows and Mac, as well as FireAnt’s database of feeds and metadata.
However, in terms of users FireAnt is thin on the ground with a very low Alexa rank of 245,000 which I estimate to be anywhere between 5000 – 20,000 visitors a month.
Compare that to its main competitor Miro which has an Alexa rank of 38,000 (roughly about the same popularity as TiVo.com) which will have monthly visitors most likely in the mid 6 figure range (if not higher).
This also comes at a time when another competitor to FireAnt, Instant Media, appears to have shut down due to a lack of popularity.
This aquisition appears to be be rescuing FireAnt from a deadly fate.
Odeo – The Best Place for FireAnt
The lack of users of FireAnt will now be overshadowed bu the popularity of Odeo, an extremely popular podcast directory mainly concentrating on audio rather than video.
Odeo is well placed to give Vodcasts more traction by adding the FireAnt technology to its audio podcast mix. I think the aquisition will work great for both companies.
