“Yahoo is a pioneer of the Internet and represents one of the largest, most trusted and progressive publishers in the world,” said Adam Singolda, founder and CEO of Taboola. “Everywhere I look, I see dizzying growth opportunities for both: native to e-commerce, video, header (display) offerings, and more.” The partnership is a win-win and will significantly accelerate growth, according to Singolda. The focus is on the reach in the open web and the company’s cookie-free approach.
Through the partnership, Taboola leverages Yahoo’s scale as a global media and advertising platform, which claims to have nearly 900 million monthly active users worldwide. Yahoo, in turn, wants to use the deal to expand its native offerings and build significantly more reach. Behind Yahoo are services like Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Finance, and Yahoo News, as well as a host of other publishers like AOL, Engadget, and Techcrunch. Going forward, Taboola will be solely responsible for native advertising on these digital presences and will be marketed through Yahoo’s demand-side platform (DSP). Yahoo receives a share of inventory sales.
As part of the deal, Yahoo will receive 24.99 percent of Taboola’s total issued and outstanding common stock, approximately 60 percent in common stock and 40 percent in new non-voting stock. These are new shares that have been issued on the basis of a capital increase previously programmed and approved by the owners. A Yahoo representative will also join Taboola’s board of directors. The deal, which has been approved by the boards of both companies, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. However, it’s unclear exactly how much money flowed as part of the deal.
“Partnering with Taboola allows Yahoo to continue to expand contextual and native offerings within our holistic advertising ecosystem,” said Jim Lanzone, CEO of Yahoo. Lanzone talks about jointly benefiting from the “long-term benefit of digital native advertising”. Since the announcement of the deal, Taboola’s share price has already skyrocketed and is currently up 45%.
