Online media company SAY Media has acquired Sideshow, a digital agency with expertise in building next-generation media properties and innovative brand experiences.

Launched purely as a digitally-focused media agency back in 1999, Sideshow has helped both start-ups and brands develop strategies and products for the Web, mobile and social networks. Some of its brand partners are Microsoft, Fox and Royal Bank of Scotland.

The digital agency with offices in the United States, Europe and the Middle East will join SAY’s Media Lab, which the company describes as a ‘creative and technical group dedicated to exploring new products and experiences for the company’s network of owned and operated media properties’.

“Sideshow’s expertise in building digital experiences for some of the world’s best-known brands will be integral as we develop new ways for people to create, consume and monetize digital content,” said Troy Young, president of SAY Media.

Going forward, Young said the Media Lab plans to develop new publishing experiences like the one it recently created for Jane Pratt’s xoJane.com, a new kind of women’s interest site targeting independent and opinionated women.

XoJane.com is currently delivering an average of six-minute session times per user, according to Young. That’s due, in large part, to the site’s cross-promotion of relevant content, intuitive user experiences and faster load times.