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Yellowgrape acquires Markant Internet. With this step, we are opening our third office in Hengelo, in addition to Amsterdam and Berlin, and immediately bringing 20 SEO, SEA, and link-building specialists in-house. This is our second acquisition, two years after acquiring FSG in Berlin. And just like then, this isn't growth for growth's sake. This is a strategic choice, driven by the biggest shift we've seen in our industry in years.
The way consumers find brands and products is changing rapidly. Search traffic is shifting from Google to AI assistants. Where brands fought for years for positions in search results, the battle is now shifting to visibility within AI assistants and language models. GEO and LLM findability, for those who want the jargon.
Let me put it sharply: those who aren't found there will simply cease to exist for a growing segment of consumers.
I believe that organic findability will become *the* growth channel of the AI era. But the rules of the game are being rewritten. To win in that playing field, you need deep specialized capacity in SEO and link building, and you can't build that up fast enough on your own. With Markant, we're bringing in a team that has been doing this at a top level for fifteen years. Together, we're establishing an organic growth proposition that the largest agencies in Western Europe won't be able to ignore.
Markant Internet has been a fixture in Twente for 15 years, with a loyal client base of SMEs. These clients now gain access to the full breadth of Yellowgrape: from marketing automation and customer 360 to social advertising, CRO, brand, and data. And Markant clients with ambitions in Germany? They can directly turn to our Berlin office.
The same applies in reverse. Our clients in Amsterdam and Berlin immediately gain a specialized team that masters organic growth down to its core.
Incidentally, interest in Markant didn't come only from us. Several parties came forward, but the Hengelo team felt Yellowgrape was the best fit. We see that trust as a compliment and a responsibility. Founder Niek Olijslager is fully transferring his company, thereby closing this chapter himself. Operational leadership remains in the hands of Olaf Peters, whose business card will now bear the title of managing director.
Olaf put it beautifully when the deal was done: "For our team and our clients, this is a huge step forward. We'll continue to do what we do best, from Hengelo, with our own team. But we can now offer our clients much more. And our specialists will have the opportunity to develop within an organization with disciplines we could only dream of until now."
What will this look like in practice? Markant Internet will continue as a self-managing hub of Yellowgrape under the leadership of its current management. Over the coming months, the teams will gradually integrate, and from January 1, 2027, Markant will fully operate under the Yellowgrape name.
With this acquisition, Yellowgrape grows to approximately 75 specialists, spread across Amsterdam, Berlin, and Hengelo. Three offices, one mission: to help brands grow in a playing field that is redefined every day.
Questions about what this step means for your brand or findability in the AI era? Feel free to contact us.
