Outflow started as a tool to synch data between sales and marketing systems, but has now reinvented itself as a data unification and workflow engine. The transformation includes a change in pricing model from events to active contacts, new dashboards, and access to CRM data for lead scoring. Outfunnel now maintains its own contact profiles, which puts it close to CDP territory.
Twilio has launched a platform that combines its CDP with omnichannel journey orchestration. The new platform, called Engage, bucks the trend towards breaking CDPs into separate components. The company also announced a passwordless approach to user authentication and no-code tool to build self-service customer support flows.
We interrupt our usual stream of bad-Meta news to report that they’ve partnered with LiveRamp to expand targeting of Meta campaigns based on advertisers’ first-party data. Specifically, LiveRamp’s Authenticated Traffic Solution can now connect to Facebook’s Conversions API. You either know what that means or don’t care. In more good news, Meta announced Media Ratings Council brand safety certification for its Instream Video and Instant Articles, but not the (much larger) Facebook Feed and Instagram Feed ad placements.
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.