We don’t write much about SMB (Small and Mid-size Business) products. But now that I’ve raised the subject, SMB payments and communications platform Podium has raised a $201 million Series D, bringing total funding to $419 million. Podium started as a review-generation platform, but its ability to accept payments within text messages is what’s unusual.
OpenText, which provides a range of content, document, security, and experience management solutions, is buying email security vendor Zix for $860 million. The company says it will add Zix to SMB data protection platform, which is based on its 2019 acquisition of Carbonite and Webroot.
Yelp reviews are a foundation for many SMB marketing programs, so it’s on-topic today. But their actual news is a man-bites-dog reversal: Yelp has just launched two ad units that let national brands promote themselves by highlighting local companies that carry their goods. Sponsored Collections show ads organized around a theme while Seasonal Spotlight ads present a rotating sample of brand holiday campaigns.
Google lashed out at the Department of Justice’s threat to break up the company, calling the proposals “radical.” Among other things, Google says the proposals would threaten users’ privacy, stifle innovation and break Android and Chrome. Given the appeals process, it will likely be years before we know whether Google will stay in one piece.