The opposite of free is $70 million, which is how much sales enablement platform Showpad just raised in a combined debt and equity Series D. Showpad recommends content for salespeople to share with their customers and also offers helpful AI-based coaching.
We talk a lot in the CDP world about companies expanding the scope of their features. But if you really want to see integrated systems, look at the small business end of the market, where all-in-one vendors constantly expand to become aller-in-one. Case in point: WordPress hosting leader WP Engine just announced deeper integration with HubSpot, including access to HubSpot’s free CRM and almost-free marketing automation. WP Engine also just bought competitor Flywheel.
Speaking of unsurprising: Amazon has received a patent for a plan to let its delivery drones double as home surveillance devices. You probably assumed that were doing that already.
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.