As if on cue, we have news that programmatic media services provider MiQ is buying Grasp, which offers media governance and data quality technology. As you surely know, the programmatic buying chain is convoluted, opaque, and other bad things, so Grasp’s ability to reduce errors can only help. MiQ purchased “privacy-first” audience platform (is there any other kind these days?) Air Grid one year ago almost to the day.
You can never tell what’s behind that light at the of tunnel, but let’s think positive. Firmex, which helps companies to share confidential data during investment negotiations, reports that merger and acquisition advisors are more optimistic about deal volume and valuations than any time since the start of 2022. Deals are also taking longer to close and include more contingent compensation, but we’ll take any good news we can get.
Coincidence or not, here’s another acquisition story. Getir, the “ultrafast” grocery delivery company that promises to deliver orders within 15 minutes, is buying Fresh Direct, which serves the New York regional market. Don’t get too excited; Fresh Direct services will continue as before. I think we can chalk this up to consolidation as the crazily-competitive and complex last mile delivery market adapts to post-Covid reality.
AI-edited content is less concerning than AI-generated content — that’s the takeaway from Meta’s adjustment to its AI labeling on Facebook and other platforms. The “AI info” label will continue to appear on AI-generated content. Where content has only been modified or edited using AI, the label will appear more demurely in the post’s menu.