- Longtime rival online content recommendation companies Taboola and Outbrain are combining.
- The new company will operate under the Taboola name, with Outbrain shareholders receiving 30% of the shares and $250 million in cash. Taboola founder and CEO Adam Singolda will continue as the CEO.
- The combined company will be able to get a bigger share of advertiser dollars and help it take on Google and Facebook, said Singolda.
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Rivals Taboola and Outbrain, two of the biggest online content recommendation companies, are combining in a cash and stock deal, the two companies announced today.
Taboola founder and CEO Adam Singolda wouldn't call the agreed-on deal an acquisition, but the combined company will operate under the Taboola name; Outbrain shareholders will receive shares representing 30% of the combined company and $250 million in cash; and Singolda will continue as the CEO.
Managers and board members of the two companies will make up the board of the combined company. Taboola president & COO Eldad Maniv and Outbrain co-CEO David Kostman will manage the integration, while Outbrain co-founder and co-CEO Yaron Galai will stay on for at least 12 months after the closing.
Taboola is trying to create an alternative to Facebook and Google
Both started in Israel and now New York-based, Taboola and Outbrain use widgets to place recommended links to articles, videos, and products across hundreds of publisher websites (including Business Insider), like those "Sponsored" posts that appear near the bottom of many articles. They make money by sending traffic to publishers' sites and placing ads in those widgets, and reports of the companies merging have made the rounds for years.
Both have also been criticized for enabling the spread of clickbait and fake news in the widgets, causing some publishers and brands to distance themselves from the companies.
Taboola has billed itself as an alternative to Google and Facebook over the years, trying to own discovery the way that the tech giants dominate search and social
"There's so much focus on Google and Facebook being too big that it's almost like a rallying cry from the industry to create more choice," he said. "We hope that this is a huge win for the industry, giving small and big advertisers more choice in terms of where they can run their ads online and in turn, help to grow revenue for publishers."
Singolda said Taboola and Outbrain made more than $2 billion in revenue in 2018 combined and that the new company would have more than 2,000 employees across 23 offices, with more than 20,000 clients including advertisers like Pandora and Whirlpool and publishers like CNN and The Washington Post.
Taboola has raised $157 million from investors including Fidelity Investments, Marker, and Steadfast Capital, while Outbrain has raised $150 million in funding from Index Ventures, Viola Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, among others, according to The Wall Street Journal.
