Branch, a Facebook mobile measurement partner, buys Tune mobile attribution biz

Branch, a four-year-old company that in February became Facebook's first new mobile measurement partner since 2013, is acquiring the mobile attribution business of Tune, which was once penalized by the social network, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation. Terms of the deal could not be determined. Representatives of Branch and Tune could not immediately comment. Branch uses its access to Facebook data to tell marketers how many app installations their ads on the social platform drove. Advertisers then take that data and compare it to how many app installs Google drove, for example. It has clients such as Pinterest, Slack, Fox Sports, Reddit, Bing and Amazon Music. But Branch only recently entered the so-called attribution business, and its current product has been described by some as rudimentary at best. Its deal with Tune will help it both boost revenue and gain useful attribution tech. That should help Branch compete with other Facebook mobile measurement partners, such as Appsflyer, Adjust, Kochava and Singular. Still, hurdles remain. Integrating Tune's mobile attribution software, for example, will be cumbersome and time consuming. While there are 19 Facebook mobile measurement partners in the U.S., there are only 10 approved to report attribution metrics. Tune itself was once a Facebook mobile measurement partner, but Facebook revoked its badge for holding onto to data too long. Given the current environment surrounding data privacy, it was a longshot at best for Tune to regain its partner status. That may have encouraged its sale, people with knowledge of the situation say.

Branch, a Facebook mobile measurement partner, buys Tune mobile attribution biz

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