Maybe it’s the cold weather. Maybe it’s the approach of Valentines Day. Whatever the reason, compatible firms are hooking up at an alarming rate. First, B2B data compiler DiscoverOrg announced it is buying fellow compiler ZoomInfo. The B2B data space is getting crowded as firms like Radius, DemandBase and LeadSpace compete with traditional providers. You may also recall that Dun & Bradstreet was sold to private investors last August.
Customer success system vendor Gainsight has added a platform to support product managers. Features include product analytics, customer feedback reporting, personalized experiences, and key performance indicators. Gainsight calls its system a Product Experience Platform, which would yield the cheerful acronym of PEP.
Does customer service need more attention? Digital asset management vendor Bynder found that excellent service was rated as the most effective brand differentiator by 29% of decision makers, far ahead of marketing campaigns (15%) or product (13%). The same survey found that 23% of marketers are struggling to find the right personalization technology, which has nothing to do with customer service but might still come in handy. You’re welcome.
A U.S. district court judge has ruled that Google acted to create illegal monopolies in online advertising technology in a way that blocked competition and allowed higher ad prices to be charged. Google will appeal; meantime, the government will decide what to ask the court to do to remedy the monopoly. Google also faces a new U.K. antitrust lawsuit over its dominance of search.