Contextual ad analytics expert GumGum has also jumped closer to the publisher side by buying JustPremium, one of the largest rich media and video ad marketplaces in Europe. The deal will give GumGum more places to insert its contextually-targeted ad units. Price wasn’t announced.
In slightly less bizarre broadcast news, media quality service Integral Ad Science has purchased connected TV ad platform Publica. It sounds like a referee becoming a player, but IAS apparently sees it as improving the game for everyone. Price was $220 million including 75% cash and 25% stock.
In case you still question whether marketing ops is Officially A Thing, this Brandmaker report finds 70% of senior marketers say their company has a dedicated marketing ops team and 73% say that team is responsible for both martech and tracking campaign performance. The most-desired improvement was better integration of the tech stack, but, oddly, integration ranked fifth as an investment priority. Download for lots more.
The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that could potentially ban TikTok in the U.S. if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, does not sell its holdings within a year. The bill now goes to the President Biden, who has said he will sign it. Court challenges are likely to follow.