Oracle

Oracle is a data broker and marketing monolith that operates globally, including in the UK. In recent years Oracle has acquired several data companies, including Datalogix, AddThis, Crosswise, and BlueKai. The Oracle product that Privacy International is particularly concerned with it the Oracle Data Cloud, which “helps advertisers connect with the right customers, personalize every transaction, and measure the effect each engagement… creates true cross-channel consumer understanding, so you know more about who your customers are, what they do, where they go, and what they buy."  Through extensive aggregation and tracking Oracle sorts individuals into thousands of categories.

Here is an overview of Oracle over the years.

 

06 Feb 2018
In 2019, after five years of acquisitions and billions of dollars in investment in advertising software and real-time tracking of web users, Oracle, facing questions about the practices of Data Cloud, its advertising software division, began laying off staff. The reason may have been partly
15 Dec 2015
In 2015, Oracle and the US Federal Trade Commission settled charges that Oracle had compromised users' security by failing to remove older versions of Java SE from their computers when the software was updated. The software was installed on more than 850 million computers as of August 2014; Oracle
23 Dec 2013
In August 2016, Oracle's MICROS division, one of the top three global point-of-sale vendors, was hacked by the Carbanak Gang, a Russian organised cybercrime group known for hacking into banks and retailers. In 2014 when Oracle acquired it, MICROS' systems were in use at more than 200,000 food and
07 Jan 2015
In 2015, Turner Broadcasting, a semi-autonomous division of AT&T's Warner Media announced it would integrate offerings from Episilon, Krux, and Oracle into its data management platform, which powers its ads. Oracle and Epsilon help bring in offline and multichannel consumer data, while Krux bridges
01 Jan 2016
In 2013, Oracle spent $1.5 billion to acquire the cross-channel marketer Responsys in a move analysts saw as an effort to compete with Salesforce, and also Adobe Systems. The acquisition was the beginning of a push into marketing that continued through 2015. Oracle, better known for enterprise
02 Jun 2015
In 2014, Oracle beat out Facebook, Adobe Systems, and TV ratings agency AC Nielsen to acquire Datalogix for an estimated $1.2 billion. At the time, DataLogix, which provides data on offline consumer spending to digital marketers to enable them to track the effectiveness of their ads, had estimated
16 Nov 2015
In 2015, Oracle rolled out "Validated Demographics", a service based on combining the capabilities it acquired with BlueKai, a data management platform that gathers data from publishers, and Datalogix, a tool that compiles offline demographic data. The combination of these complementary services
13 Apr 2017
In 2017, Oracle Data Cloud and Simulmedia entered into an agreement to enable purchase-based targeting on national television. In this system, advertisers are able to reach audiences that are targeted based on their in-store purchases. Simulmedia is a leader in data-optimised TV campaigns; its
13 Jul 2016
In 2016, PlaceIQ, which connected physical and digital activities across time, space, and mobile devices, announced a collaboration with Oracle that would make its audience data available through Data Cloud's BlueKai Marketplace. PlaceIQ uses data from 475 million location points, 100 million unique
01 May 2016
In 2016, Oracle, long known as an enterprise software company, acquired the audience tracking company AddThis as part of expanding its business into marketing technology. AddThis places buttons on web pages to enable visitors to share stories or follow accounts on social media sites such as Facebook
22 Oct 2018
In 2018, to enhance its AI capabilities Oracle acquired DataFox, which supplies business intelligence that can be used to help businesses plan a variety of customer relationship management services. The startup has a database covering 2.8 million public and private businesses and expecting to add 1