Stop sulking that no one bought you a Baby Yoda over the holiday. The truly hot gift was a podcast company. Amazon bought itself one last week, spending an estimated $300 million for podcast publisher Wondery. It will help Amazon bulk up its audio streaming business, bringing shivers of non-delight to existing competitors.
Digital customer service platform Khoros just bought Topbox, which collects and analyzes interaction data from calls, chat, social media, surveys, and other sources. The deal was accompanied by a new investment in Khoros by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners, which bought control of customer success vendor Gainsight last December. You can see what they’re thinking.
Twitter also has a new podcast-related bauble. They just bought Breaker, which lets podcast listeners comment on episodes, share favorites, and do other things which make the usual Twitter experience such a civilized delight. The Breaker app will soon be discontinued as Breaker staff takes charge of Twitter’s audio-based social networking product, which inexplicably is not named Screech.
The IAB is forecasting that digital video will capture some 60% of total TV/video ad spend this year, a growth of 100% on its share five years ago. The new 2025 Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report also notes that CTV saw a 16% increase YoY in ad spend growth. CTV and social video will be the top “must-buys” for advertisers in 2025.