Yahoo somehow feels they can predict the future well enough to sign thirty-year deal for Taboola to power Yahoo’s native content and ad targeting. Yahoo will buy just under 25% of the company as part of the transaction. Perspective: it’s one year since Yahoo was purchased by private equity investors; it’s two years since Taboola failed to consummate a planned merger with Outbrain; thirty years ago, neither firm existed.
Kantar is also reading the media tea leaves. They find that audience fragmentation and higher ad costs are pushing marketers to rely more on their own resources: 80% want in-house segmentation tools; 78% of large businesses plan to strengthen their in-house data platforms; and 64% believe data quality will become more important. They also spy a counter-trend of consumers preferring real-world channels including sponsored events and ads in magazines, cinema, point of sale, and digital out of home.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) just announced it is fining Meta €265 million (US $276 million) for GDPR non-compliance due to data scraping. This brings Meta’s 2022 total fines from the DPC to almost €700 million. The DPC oversees the company because it is headquartered in Ireland. And, reports are that more Meta fines may be announced there soon. This fine was for a 2021 breach that affected more than a half million records and resulted in personal data surfacing on a public forum and circulating widely on the web.
CDP and marketing cloud vendor Zeta Global announced an agreement to purchase LiveIntent, which helps companies do email-based advertising. The deal will let Zeta expand its identity graph, enter the publisher monetization business, and accelerate its mobile and retail media products. Zeta will pay $77.5 million in cash and $172.5 million in common stock, with potential for additional payments based on performance.