AddThis
AddThis was a discontinued web-sharing and social-bookmarking service that also provided publisher analytics and audience-data tools.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
AddThis was a web-services brand built around tools that allowed publishers to place sharing and social-bookmarking functions inside their websites. A typical AddThis installation appeared as a button, toolbar, or other embedded widget. Visitors could use it to bookmark or distribute a page through services such as Facebook, MySpace, Pinterest, Twitter, email, and other supported destinations. The service was designed to reduce the technical work required for publishers to support many external sharing channels and to provide a consistent interface across websites. The business began as AddThis, LLC in 2004, founded by Hooman Radfar, Austin Fath, and Dominique Vonarburg. Early growth came from distributing widgets to third-party websites. By 2007, the service had reportedly delivered more than 100 million widgets and was experiencing rapid website growth. In 2008, Clearspring Technologies acquired AddThis, with the intention of concentrating its publisher-facing content-sharing activities under the AddThis name. Clearspring subsequently expanded the platform with widget capabilities derived from LaunchPad, while discontinuing the separate LaunchPad offering. AddThis developed beyond simple social bookmarking. Its publisher tools included sharing buttons, content-discovery and engagement features, follow tools, a welcome bar, and analytics for examining sharing and interaction. The wider Clearspring business also pursued audience and advertising services. In 2010 it introduced the Clearspring Audience Platform for interest-based display advertising, and in 2011 it acquired the data-science company XGraph. AddThis later added support for Pinterest and Web Intents and began offering social-login functionality. The company changed its corporate name from Clearspring Technologies to AddThis in May 2012, reflecting the prominence of the product brand. During the following years, AddThis was described as operating at very large web scale, with reference material reporting hundreds of millions or more than a billion unique users at different points and use by millions of publishers or domains. The service’s reach also made its data practices consequential. AddThis collected behavioral information from users, including people who did not actively share content, and in 2014 its use of canvas fingerprinting to identify and track browsers attracted privacy criticism. That controversy highlighted the tension between free embedded publisher tools, audience analytics, targeted advertising, and users’ expectations about online tracking. Oracle acquired AddThis on January 5, 2016, bringing the brand and its technology into Oracle’s marketing, advertising, and data-oriented portfolio. The acquisition was reported at almost $200 million; before the transaction, AddThis had reportedly raised approximately $73 million. Oracle announced in April 2023 that AddThis services would be terminated, and all services ended on May 31, 2023. AddThis is therefore a defunct internet-service brand rather than an active standalone sharing platform.
History
AddThis was founded in 2004 as AddThis, LLC by Hooman Radfar, Austin Fath, and Dominique Vonarburg. Its initial proposition was relatively straightforward: website publishers could install a widget that gave visitors convenient ways to bookmark or share content through a range of external services. Instead of separately implementing integrations for each social network or bookmarking destination, a publisher could use AddThis as a common distribution layer. The service expanded rapidly during the growth of social media and embedded web tools. By 2007, AddThis had reportedly delivered more than 100 million widgets to websites, with rapid monthly growth and substantial daily usage. In 2008, Clearspring Technologies acquired AddThis, seeking to create a unified publisher content-sharing platform under the AddThis name. Clearspring incorporated sharing capabilities from its LaunchPad product and subsequently retired LaunchPad as a separate offering. The combined platform reached a reported 254 million unique users according to comScore, and its reach continued to increase through the end of the decade. The company’s ambitions broadened from sharing into audience technology. In 2010, Clearspring launched the Clearspring Audience Platform, intended to let brand marketers deliver interest-based display advertising across the web. The platform was reported to have exceeded one billion unique users and to have been used across more than eight million unique domains. Clearspring acquired data-science company XGraph in 2011. That year, Ramsey McGrory became chief executive officer, while co-founder Hooman Radfar moved into the role of executive chairman. In May 2012, Clearspring changed its corporate name to AddThis, reflecting the importance of its best-known product. The renamed company introduced or promoted several publisher tools, including Trending Content Box, Follow Tools, and Welcome Bar. It expanded support for Pinterest and Web Intents and began offering social login later in 2012. These developments positioned AddThis as a broader engagement platform rather than merely a collection of social-bookmarking buttons. Richard Harris, previously the company’s chief financial officer, became chief executive in September 2012. AddThis’s scale also made its collection and use of behavioral data a significant issue. The service could collect information about visitors even when they did not click a share control. In July 2014, ProPublica reported that AddThis used canvas fingerprinting, a technique capable of producing a distinctive browser identifier and of being more difficult to block than conventional cookies. The report connected the technology with tracking across sites, including WhiteHouse.gov and YouPorn.com. YouPorn removed AddThis after the report, stating that it had not known the widget included tracking software with potential privacy implications. AddThis offered an opt-out mechanism, but the reported process required users to submit personal details, which itself drew criticism. The company also became involved in patent litigation brought by Rembrandt Social Media. The dispute concerned patents associated with social-media interaction concepts first implemented in Surfbook and included claims relating to Like-style functionality. The case was part of a broader legal conflict that also named Facebook. Oracle acquired AddThis on January 5, 2016. Reports placed the transaction value at almost $200 million and stated that AddThis had raised roughly $73 million before its acquisition. Under Oracle, AddThis was associated with the company’s marketing, advertising, audience, and data activities. The public-facing sharing service continued for several years, but changes in social distribution, browser privacy controls, tracking restrictions, and the wider publisher-tool market affected the environment in which embedded sharing and data collection operated. Oracle announced in April 2023 that it would terminate AddThis services, and the shutdown took effect on May 31, 2023. The brand is now discontinued.
- 2023
Services terminated
[1]Oracle announced the shutdown in April, and AddThis services ended on May 31, 2023.
- 2016
Oracle acquisition
[1]Oracle Corporation acquired AddThis on January 5. The transaction was reported at almost $200 million.
- 2014
Canvas-fingerprinting controversy
[2]ProPublica reported that AddThis used canvas fingerprinting to help identify and track users across websites, prompting privacy criticism.
- 2012
Clearspring Technologies renamed AddThis
[1]The company adopted AddThis as its corporate name and introduced publisher tools including Trending Content Box, Follow Tools, and Welcome Bar.
- 2012
Social-login offering introduced
[1]AddThis began offering social login and expanded support for services including Pinterest and Web Intents.
- 2011
XGraph acquired and CEO changed
[1]Clearspring acquired data-science company XGraph. Ramsey McGrory became CEO, while Hooman Radfar became executive chairman.
- 2010
Clearspring Audience Platform launched
[1]Clearspring introduced an audience and interest-based display-advertising platform extending the business beyond sharing widgets.
- 2009
Platform reached reported large-scale audience
[1]The combined platform was reported to have reached approximately 600 million unique users by the end of the year.
- 2008
Acquisition by Clearspring Technologies
[1]Clearspring Technologies acquired AddThis and consolidated its publisher-sharing activities under the AddThis brand.
- 2007
Early widget-scale growth
[1]The service had reportedly delivered more than 100 million widgets to websites and was experiencing rapid growth.
Products and positioning
Publisher-facing tools for web content sharing, social distribution, audience engagement, and behavioral analytics.
Web-sharing widget
AddThis Share Buttons
The best-known AddThis product family consisted of embeddable buttons, toolbars, and related widgets. Publishers installed them on pages so visitors could send or bookmark content through supported social networks, email, and other online destinations. The service provided a common interface for multiple distribution channels and reduced the need for publishers to build and maintain separate integrations. The offering was discontinued when AddThis services ended in 2023.
Publisher analytics
AddThis Analytics
AddThis provided analytics associated with sharing, content distribution, and visitor engagement. These capabilities were intended to help publishers understand which content was being shared and how audiences interacted with embedded tools. The broader platform also collected behavioral data for audience-oriented services, making its analytics and tracking practices relevant to later privacy criticism. The offering is no longer available.
Content-discovery tool · 2012
Trending Content Box
A publisher-facing AddThis tool designed to surface or promote trending content within a website. It formed part of the company’s effort to expand from basic sharing controls into on-site engagement and content-discovery features.
Audience-engagement tool · 2012
Follow Tools
Follow Tools helped publishers encourage visitors to connect with a publisher or brand through supported social channels. It was introduced alongside other AddThis engagement products as the company broadened its publisher toolkit.
Web engagement widget · 2012
Welcome Bar
A prominent web interface element intended to welcome visitors and present engagement or distribution options. It was one of the tools AddThis introduced as part of a wider suite for publisher interaction and audience development.
Audience and advertising platform · 2010
Clearspring Audience Platform
Launched before the corporate rename to AddThis, the Clearspring Audience Platform was designed to support interest-based display advertising across the web. It extended the company’s business from publisher sharing into audience data and advertising technology.
Controversies
2014
Canvas fingerprinting and behavioral tracking controversy
ProPublica reported that AddThis used canvas fingerprinting to create identifiers that could support tracking users across websites, including users who had not actively shared content. The report characterized the technique as more difficult to block than ordinary cookies. YouPorn removed AddThis after the report, saying it had not been aware of the tracking capability. AddThis provided an opt-out process, but the reported requirements for opting out raised additional privacy concerns.
Brand decisions
2023
AddThis services discontinuedOtherBackground
Oracle announced that the AddThis public services would no longer be maintained.
Action taken
Oracle announced the shutdown on April 1, with all AddThis services scheduled to end on May 31, 2023.
Aftermath
The termination ended AddThis as an operating web-sharing service and left the brand defunct.
2016
Oracle acquired AddThisM&ABackground
AddThis operated at the intersection of publisher tools, audience analytics, advertising, and data services, areas relevant to Oracle’s marketing and data portfolio.
Action taken
Oracle Corporation acquired AddThis on January 5, 2016.
Aftermath
AddThis became part of Oracle’s broader marketing, advertising, audience, and data activities while continuing as a public-facing service for several years.
Reported acquisition price. Almost USD 200 million (January 5, 2016 transaction)
2012
Corporate name changed to AddThisStrategyBackground
AddThis had become the company’s most widely used product and the central identity of its publisher platform.
Action taken
Clearspring Technologies changed its corporate name to AddThis and introduced additional sharing, following, content-discovery, and engagement tools.
Aftermath
The rebrand emphasized AddThis as a broader publisher and audience-engagement platform rather than only a social-bookmarking widget.
2008
Clearspring acquired AddThisM&ABackground
Clearspring Technologies wanted to consolidate its publisher-facing content-sharing activities and create a unified distribution platform.
Action taken
Clearspring acquired AddThis, retained AddThis as the principal product brand, incorporated sharing capabilities from LaunchPad, and later discontinued LaunchPad as a separate offering.
Aftermath
The combined platform expanded its reported publisher and audience reach and developed toward a broader content-distribution and audience-technology business.
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