Customer comms giant Twilio to acquire SendGrid for $2bn

Twilio has entered into an agreement to acquire email API platform SendGrid in a $2bn (£1.82bn) bid to build out its leading Platform-as-a-Service, which virtualises the world’s telecoms infrastructure through APIs.

Used by more than 40K companies globally such as Airbnb and Netflix, Twilio lets software developers add capabilities such as voice, video, chat and messaging into their applications, backed by a “Super Network” connecting communications networks...

16 October 2018 | Customer Experience

‘Project Dragonfly’: Google’s rumoured censor-friendly launch in China

It’s common knowledge that Google, as present as it is in our daily lives, does not enjoy the same ubiquity in China, and hasn’t done for eight years.

Leaked meeting minutes from the corporation, however, suggest that could be about to change.

Codenamed ‘Project Dragonfly’, the search giant is allegedly in the midst of a bid to launch in China in an iteration that would play ball with Beijing’s hardline censorship policies.

According to a...

10 October 2018 | Advertising Technology

Third of ad spend growth to be driven by paid search and social by 2020

One third of all global ad spend growth will be driven by paid search and social media spend within the next two years, according to the latest report by Publicis-owned industry forecaster Zenith.

Annual global ad spend is on track to hit $581bn (£442bn) by the end of 2018, while Zenith raised its predictions for global ad spend growth from 4.1% to 4.5% until 2020, 67% of which will come from investments in paid search and social media ads.

Within that time, paid search...

24 September 2018 | Advertising

Two-thirds of people don’t know difference between Google paid and organic search results

Nearly two-thirds (60%) of consumers don’t know the difference between paid and organic search results on Google, according to a new study by Varn.

The UK marketing agency approached over 1,000 internet users with the simple question; “Do you know which links on the Google search results page are paid adverts?”

A whole 59.7% of people surveyed claimed to be unaware of the differences between the two types of Google listings, implying that the...

6 September 2018 | Best Practice

Google bought data on two-billion Mastercard users for offline retail tracking

Google has made no secret of efforts to bridge the world of online marketing and highstreet sales. It has the tech and dominance in droves, and bricks-and-mortar sales still account for over 80% of commerce - you can’t knock the logic.

In recent tweaks to its Shopping ads, the search giant even said it was making it possible for advertisers to optimise ads based on in-store visits, and while it was vague on the process behind this revelation, a new Bloomberg report may have shed...

4 September 2018 | Advertising Technology

Less than half of businesses in the US claim to use SEO

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is falling out of favour with marketers, a new study by Clutch suggests, with less than half of businesses claiming to invest in the channel.  

A US-based survey of more than 500 digital marketers found that just 44% claim to invest in any kind of SEO strategy, despite 83% of respondents claiming to be satisfied that their digital marketing efforts were paying off in achieving their goals.

Comparatively, the three most popular channels were...

21 August 2018 | Content Marketing

Two-thirds of organisations plan to up spend on martech, but struggling to keep pace

Nearly two-thirds (65%) of marketing organisations plan to up their spend on martech in the next year while just 5% intend to curb it, according to Walker Sands State of Martech Report 2018.

Right now, though, they’re struggling to keep up.

According to the report, based on responses from 300 marketers of varying company size, level and experience, martech certainly doesn’t suffer from a lack of interest of understanding of its benefits.

However, while 63% of...

10 August 2018 | Advertising Technology

Pinterest on track for IPO as ad revenue approaches $1bn waterline

Social media company Pinterest is approaching $1bn in ad revenue, according to sources close to the group, putting in IPO (initial public offering) in arm’s reach for 2019.

The image discovery platform could double its 2017 $500 million sales revenue this year, driven in large part by success with mobile ads according to CNBC, with big fashion and beauty brands turning to the platform to get in front of 200 million monthly active users, 80% of which claim to use its...

25 July 2018 | Native Advertising

Reddit roles out native autoplay video ads with focus on user engagement

Following its recent redesign, Reddit has rolled out a new native video ad format that will auto-play by default when a user scrolls through a feed.

The update is part of the massively popular site’s tentative efforts to monetise its 330m active monthly users, which can be widely resistant to any large-scale changes to user experience, particularly when there’s a commercial slant involved.

Users will, however, be able to turn off the autoplay function, while the ads...

13 June 2018 | Native Advertising

Native ad leader Outbrain acquires AdNgin for automated ad content optimisation

New York-based native ad firm Outbrain has acquired AdNgin, a UI (user interface) optimisation specialist built to enhance the reader experience.

The buyout - made for an undisclosed fee - marks the sixth for Outbrain since its founding in 2006, including the more recent purchases of content discovery platforms Zemanta and Revee as part of the company’s aggressive growth efforts and continued leadership in the native advertising sector. 

According to the...

6 June 2018 | Customer Experience