Clearspring acquired AddThis. i was talking about just last week while commenting on the MadKast acquistion by ShareThis that a true competition to ShareThis was needed. i say that even considering that Widgets Lab is using ShareThis for its Quick Content Sharing or Social Bookmarking and Sharing as you may see it best.

While the Acquisition of MadKast by ShareThis was purely technologic and recruiting perfect addition to its team. Clearspring acquisition of AddThis goes the other way around. Clearspring don`t needs more Tech, Analytics or new Team Members. AddThis just provides a strong brand name, mindshare and of course the marketshare they needed to make their Launchpad for Blogs Widget to work. That is right while pretty much no one paid attention to Clearspring version of ShareThis. there was one. Justin Thorp even added context to the why Clearspring decided to go with it on blog post looking at the last Technorati State of the Blogosphere report.

Then it came the sudden acquisition of  Madkast by ShareThis. now it creates me the doubt if ShareThis knew in advance that Clearspring was eyeing their #1 competitor?. my guess is that yes. ShareThis is one of the best funded Widget Startups. it could have bought AddThis if they truly wanted it unless they had thought the price was too high for something they could end up getting done in the long haul. a acquisition of AddThis by Clearspring put this in perspective but also in question to me.

Now we are left with to big independent Widget Buttons in Tell-A-Friend and in AddToAny. maybe they could join into one for a third competitor. otherwise is very clear that the only competition will be with AddThis and ShareThis. just as it already was for the last 6 months or even the last year.

CLEARSPRING ACQUIRES ADDTHIS TO CREATE THE WORLD’S LARGEST SHARING SERVICE FOR THE WEB

Company’s Reach Now Comparable to 7th Largest Web Property

McLean, Va. & Princeton, N.J. – Sept. 30, 2008 — Clearspring Technologies, the leading widget network connecting publishers and advertisers to audiences on the social Web, today announced the acquisition of AddThis, the No. 1 bookmarking and content sharing service on the Internet. Together, Clearspring and AddThis will serve over 20 billion views per month and reach more than 200 million unique visitors, creating the most widely used set of content sharing services on the Web.

Both companies achieved market leadership by delivering distinct content sharing products – AddThis providing the market’s most widely used tool for bookmarking and sharing Web pages, and Clearspring as the company that introduced the concept of point-and-click tools enabling users to easily move content between Web sites. Together the companies will offer the most comprehensive set of sharing tools available – becoming the de facto universal content sharing platform for Web publishers and end users. The collective footprint of the combined entity will reach a worldwide audience comparable to the 7^th largest Web property.

"The Internet is becoming the backbone for digital communications – an essential part of our everyday lives," said Ted Leonsis, chairman of the board at Clearspring. "With the acquisition of AddThis, Clearspring is now at the forefront of that evolution, connecting digital content publishers and consumers via a single set of universally recognizable tools that enable people to easily communicate with content."

The sharing of Web sites, services, and other digital content as a way of communicating is growing in popularity, especially among the rapidly expanding social networking segment. In August 2008, comScore estimated that social networking users comprised more than 65 percent of the Web’s 860 million unique monthly visitors. With today’s news, the combined companies’ sharing services provide publishers with a comprehensive toolset, enabling them to make any content – whether a Web page or a standalone application – easily sharable to other Web sites, a user’s desktop, or a mobile device.

"AddThis has pioneered the easiest-to-use sharing experience, enabling users to quickly save and share Web pages. This experience has propelled the AddThis sharing button to become the biggest little thing on the Web – installed on hundreds of thousands of sites around the world," said Hooman Radfar, Clearspring’s chief executive officer. "We are committed to this paradigm and intend to make our combined offerings synonymous with ’sharing made simple.’"

Clearspring and AddThis enable people to easily share content with trusted friends and social groups across popular sites like Facebook, MySpace, iGoogle, Twitter and Digg. Compelling content often shared includes Web pages, videos, movie trailers, news, sports updates, trivia quizzes, games, music, and more, and can be shared across more than 80 social networking, blogging and bookmarking services.

"With its highly scalable infrastructure and proven management team, Clearspring brings tremendous value to AddThis," said Dom Vonarburg, chief executive officer of AddThis. "We share their vision for empowering users and publishers and look forward to providing the industry’s standard sharing platform as we build out the next generation of Clearspring products."

Clearspring

AddThis