Aegis Group has bought German online marketing consultancy rmsarcar.com, its second international digital acquisition in two weeks. Financial terms of the UK media buying firm’s purchase of rmsarcar were not disclosed, though it did say the four-year-old German company had gross assets of €5 million. Last week, Aegis bought Brazilian marketing shop Age, which will be folded into its search marketing unit Isobar.

When the deal closes, rmsarcar will be integrated with Isobar-owned network of iProspect search shop and will be re-branded as iProspect Germany. The addition of iProspect Germany will take the Isobar search marketing network to a total of 69 offices in 38 countries with some 600 search marketing specialists worldwide. The formation of iProspect Germany will take the Isobar search marketing network to a total of 69 offices in 38 countries with some 600 search marketing specialists globally. Aegis cited a forecast saying that search engine marketing will account for half of the German online ad market in 2009, as part of the impetus for buying rmsarcar. Release

• Aegis Acquires Swedish Marketing Firm Jämterud, Jiffer & Partners
• Aegis Buys Finnish Digital Agency White Sheep

This’ll ruffle some feathers amongst rival editors. ComScore claims Sun Online is the UK’s most popular news website, with 4.29 million monthly unique users in March - ahead of Guardian.co.uk (3.6 million), Telegraph.co.uk (2.7 million), Times Online (2.6 million), Mail Online (2.4 million) et al.

That’s despite the increasingly standard ABCe metric for online news having put Sun Online fifth and virtually last on 13.8 million unique users that month, during which Guardian.co.uk led ahead of Mail Online, Telegraph.co.uk and Times Online (Mirror Group Newspapers posted its debut figures in sixth place).

Looks like we’re in for a repeat of the great online newspaper metrics war of 2007, when Hitwise figures based on the ”visits” metric allowed Telegraph.co.uk to run marketing claiming it was “the UK’s most visited newspaper website” - a claim that, whilst justified, still wrankles with certain rivals.

None of this does anything for the sector’s credibility. The problem is, rival measurement agencies use varying methodologies to determine popularity. And we haven’t even begun to talk about Nielsen yet. At a time when the online newspaper industry is finally getting behind ABCe as its chosen measurer, advertisers were looking forward to certainty as to the effectiveness of their spend.

Instead, they get press releases like today’s proclaiming the world they thought they lived in is actually an upside-down counterpart of the real world. Certainly, the onus is on ad buyers to investigate those methodologies. But the time has come (again) to get responsible about the numbers…

• ComScore Vs Radiohead: Are Download Stats A Creep, A Weirdo?
• Facebook Or Bebo? Which Is Really The UK’s Top Social Network?
• Nonsense and Common Sense: Trying To Compare Traffic Numbers
• British Newspapers Argue Over Who’s Number One Online
• Sun Expects Significant Web Returns Only After 15 Years

The ITV/C4/BBC Worldwide VoD JV codenamed Project Kangaroo is inching closer to fruition. MediaWeek reckons the consortium will name the service SeeSaw - a title that would aptly reflect both live and catch-up viewing features. SeeSaw.com has also been sitting unused, other than for domain parking, for several years. MediaGuardian doesn’t reference that story but debunks it, claiming SeeSaw is “far from certain”, with more consumer testing expected. It also says outgoing BBC future media and technology director CEO has set a July 1 date for becoming Kangaroo CEO. We should see things bouncing along more quickly after that. Also due - the outcome of the Office of Fair Trading inquiry sparked by Kangaroo’s self-referral to the watchdog, and BBC Trust clearance for the project.

• Kangaroo Faces OFT Questions; Minor Inquiry
• Highfield’s Successor: Who’s In The Frame For BBC’s Top Digital Job?
• Kangaroo: August Launch Rumoured; 4oD Reorgs In Preparation
• Confirmed: BBC Digital Chief Highfield Jumping To Kangaroo

Private equity firms are said to be interested in Informa, the publishing and events giant. Timesonline.co.uk reports that PE firms Apax and Carlyle are said to be interested in acquiring the company, which is currently has a market capitalisation of £1.64 billion. At this time, however, neither company has approached Informa. Analysts are mixed on the company’s performance, with some concerned that its £502 million Datamonitor acquisition last year had saddled it with high debt levels, while others believed it is holding up well in market conditions. In February, Informa reported strong full year results, and positive forecast for the rest of the year. 

• Updated: Earnings: Informa Profit Up 13 Percent; Digital Outstripping Print