Taboola CEO Adam Singolda says the company has struck a deal with Apple to power native advertising in the Apple News and Apple Stocks apps; TBLA jumps ~5%
AxiosSara Fischer
Context & Ripple Effects
Taboola had already been extending its advertising infrastructure beyond publisher recommendation widgets, including a real-time bidding partnership with Microsoft for open-web inventory. The Apple arrangement puts that capability inside two Apple information products and gives Taboola a higher-profile platform relationship.
It also foreshadows a more active Apple role in news-app monetization: Apple later began selling its own Apple News inventory, underscoring that ad technology partnerships and direct inventory sales can coexist within the same product.
First-order effects
Apple News and Apple Stocks gain Taboola-powered native-ad capability, while Taboola gains access to advertising surfaces within Apple’s apps.
Taboola’s roughly 5% share-price move signals that investors viewed the Apple distribution deal as material validation of its ad platform.
Second-order effects
Advertisers seeking native placements in Apple’s news and market-information environments may gain another route to buy those audiences, increasing the importance of Taboola’s sales and targeting infrastructure.
The deal raises competitive pressure on other ad-tech vendors to win platform-level integrations rather than relying solely on publisher-by-publisher distribution.
Third-order effects
If large consumer platforms increasingly pair their proprietary inventory with outside ad-tech infrastructure, ad-tech competition will center more on platform partnerships and less on standalone publisher networks.
Apple’s subsequent direct News inventory sales suggest a durable hybrid model in which platforms retain commercial control while using partners for selected advertising capabilities.
The trend: Consumer platforms are turning information products into more deliberate advertising businesses while selectively outsourcing the technology needed to operate those ad surfaces.
Does Apple make a more obnoxious product than Apple News? I can't even view an article someone shared with me without choosing “accept this offer”. Now they're gonna inject the worst ads on the internet, no thanks.
After reading an article on the average news site, there are usually links to articles of dubious quality that are either salacious clickbait or borderline scams. These are usually Taboola ads. It is thus a huge surprise to hear that Apple plans to run ads from them in its News…
I've never understood why Apple doesn't sell these ads itself, especially because the ads in Apple News are disgraceful. Maybe I'd use the service if every fifth paragraph wasn't interrupted by “Doctors Recommend This Superfood to Cure Diarrhea.”
Apple News has always undermonetized its large user base, mostly because Apple's always been hesitant to build out ad products. This Taboola partnership may supercharge its advertising sales and result in better revenue sharing for publishers. https://www.axios.com/...
Big news...@Taboola is teaming with @Apple to power advertising on Apple News and Apple Stocks...Apple News is the #1 news app in many markets. Advertisers are already seeing triple-digit success with Taboola and Apple News and Apple Stocks...Taboola and Apple...Sometimes you ha…
Superbug has now infected Apple as well. [Quotes 2017 tweet “So herpes of the Internet will soon mutate into a super bug.” That links to TechCrunch article: “Report: Content recommendation companies Taboola and Outbrain are in advanced merger talks"]
Apple's decision to strike a deal with Taboola is shocking and off-brand — so much so that I have started to question the company's long-term commitment to good customer experience, including its commitment to privacy. https://om.co/...
what the hell is Apple smoking here? Taboola is the company that puts spammy ad junk on what feels like every major publisher on the internet this company I love used to care about a good product experience, and now they're selling out for shitty ads—why?
Honestly, seeing how shitty the ads are in Apple news, I kind of expected it was already them who were providing ads. Taboola to sell ads for Apple https://www.axios.com/...
lol talk about a deal that is material to only one of the two counterparties — some random JR apple exec must have been very bored on a Tuesday [image]