Dive Brief:
- AOL and content marketing platform Taboola have entered into a partnership that will distribute Taboola’s content recommendations on AOL properties such as AOL.com, TechCrunch and the Huffington Post.
- According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal includes AOL taking an equity stake in Taboola that was described as "minor" but "meaningful for both sides."
- Late last summer Taboola entered into a three-year deal with Gannett worth around $50 million to make relevant content recommendations for Gannett readers in over 110 markets.
Dive Insight:
As outgoing AOL President Bob Lord's tenure comes to an end, the Verizon-owned company remains active in partnering with other digital companies and making investments in martech and ad tech firms. The deal with Taboola looks to have a bit of both approaches.
For its part, Taboola has been active with media partnerships, in addition to the Gannett deal it also distributes content on NBC News and Business Insider web properties. It raised $117 million in venture funding and an additional $3 million from DailyMail.com last year. According to the Wall Street Journal, Taboola is valued at around $700 million.
The AOL/Taboola partnership is another indicator of some convergence between publishers and the marketing and advertising tech companies they work with — a move that cuts out the agency middleman.
