Zynga agrees to buy mobile ad and monetization firm Chartboost for $250 million

Mobile game publisher Zynga has agreed to acquire mobile ad and monetization firm Chartboost for $250 million in cash.

It’s an interesting deal because Zynga is reaching outside of its usual food chain to another part of the industry — mobile game marketing, advertising, and monetization — and bringing it all inside a game company. Such skills are increasingly important, as advertising takes on a greater importance and Apple’s push toward privacy makes targeting ads more difficult.