The world’s largest online repository of pop culture and entertainment information has a new tool for advertisers.

BY BEN SHERRY, STAFF REPORTER @BENLUCASSHERRY

Illustration by Alex Eben Meyer

I don’t want to tell you how much time and money I spent on Sonic the Hedgehog last year. I bought a cashmere sweater with Sonic’s face on it, shelled out for tickets to a Sonic-themed orchestra, and paid for a dozen friends to accompany me to the third Sonic movie for my 30th birthday. That might seem like overkill, but there’s probably something in your life that you feel just as strongly about. How many times have you watched your favorite movie, or seen your favorite singer in concert? That fanatical level of devotion to a brand is called fandom, and it’s becoming more and more valuable to advertisers in their ever-escalating quest to understand consumer behavior.

As it turns out, a person’s favorite TV show, movie, sports team, or video game can have real power over their purchasing decisions, especially among younger consumers. And that’s where Fandom the company sees big potential for profit.

As the world’s largest online repository of pop culture and entertainment information, Fandom has big plans to help advertisers develop a better understanding of fans with a new AI product, powered by one of the internet’s largest treasure troves of data. (And, yes, make more money off of your pure-hearted obsessions.)

Fandom, formerly known as Wikia until being rebranded in 2016, was founded in 2004 by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales and British web entrepreneur Angela........

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