Big data and analytics company Zeta Global announced that it has acquired the commenting platform Disqus.

Disqus is best known for its commenting system that sites all over the Internet use. It is a third-party system that webmasters embed on sites. Disqus offers analytics, monetization and other services on top of the actual commenting system.

Data is stored on Disqus servers, and the company has been criticized for its user tracking activities. The company suffered two major security breaches, one in 2013 and another in October 2017. A snapshot of a database containing 17.5 million user email addresses, login dates and sign-up dates was copied according to Disqus in the latest breach.

Disqus notes in the acquisition announcement that nothing will change for users or publishers that use the service.

So you’re probably wondering what this means and how it impacts Disqus and the service we provide to publishers and users. The short answer is that not much is changing. Our team, our product offerings, terms, pricing, and vision to help publishers succeed remain the same.

Disqus becomes a business unit of Zeta Global. Plans are underway to "expand the Disqus platform for publishers" by making moderation easier and more scalable, and putting the focus on building relationships between sites and visitors.

Zeta Global's press release highlights why the company acquired Disqus.

Zeta Global today announced it has acquired Disqus, the web's leading audience engagement platform used by 4 million websites and 2 billion monthly unique users. Combined with Zeta's leading marketing platform, artificial intelligence and machine learning, the acquisition makes Zeta the only company able to offer personalized real-time marketing at scale on the open web.

The data that Disqus sits on and accumulates every single minute is what makes Disqus important for a company like Zeta Global.

We're redefining the marketing technology space with actionable data, artificial intelligence that answers business problems and a marketing hub that serves as the nerve center for data-driven marketers. Disqus extends and enhances this strategy.

Disqus' privacy policy highlights that the company collects personally identifiable information,

Closing Words

We had several reasons for sticking with the default WordPress commenting system instead of adopting a third-party powered system like Disqus. One of the major concerns that we had with all these solutions was privacy. User data is stored on third-party servers, and the company that operates the commenting platform has access to all the data including user IP addresses and header data.

In case you are wondering, a lack of control was another major reason for not switching to a third-party powered commenting system.

It is clear that Zeta Global is interested in the data that Disqus accumulated over the years, and continues to accumulate. The press release notes that 7% of the top 1000 most engaged websites use Disqus.

Now You: What's your take on this?

Summary Article Name Disqus commenting platform sold to big data and analytics firm Zeta Global Description Big data and analytics company Zeta Global announced that it has acquired the commenting platform Disqus. Author Martin Brinkmann Publisher Ghacks Technology News Logo

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