Speaking of funding and Kool-Aid: MarTech Advisor’s latest analysis of martech funding finds the biggest trend is ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings of crypto-currencies similar to Bitcoin). Of the $3.6 billion raised in the first quarter of 2018, ICOs accounted for half. Figures were distorted by $1.7 billion in ICO for UK-based privacy-oriented messaging platform Telegram Messenger.
Let’s take one of our occasional journeys into that alternate reality known as…The Mind of IT.
For broader trends in tech deals, Hampleton Partners’ reports that 61% of digital marketing M&A spending last year was on services compared with just 39% on software. Biggest acquirers were agencies like Dentsu and Accenture. Also, private equity groups doubled their investment last year and were up 4x since 2015. Interesting.
Procrastinators of the world can throw a party whenever they get around to it: Google has once more pushed back complete third-party cookie deprecation. The new target is “early next year.” Reasons for the delay include concerns expressed by U.K. data regulator Information Commissioner’s Office, an ongoing inquiry by the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority, and widespread discontent in the advertising ecosystem.