Dive Brief:

• Content-marketing company Taboola has raised $117 million in funding. The platform works with big name publishers like NBC News, Business Insider, Chicago Tribune, USA Today and others to present sponsored and recommended content at the bottom of articles.
• The content-recommendation platform plans to use the funding to boost product development and expand acquistions. 
• Adam Singolda, Taboola’s founder and chief executive, explained about the future, “There are many ways in which we can help publishers drive monetization and user engagement, with strong opportunities around video and personalization.”

Dive Insight:

Content recommendation platforms aren't a glamorous part of native advertising—but companies like Taboola and Outbrain are proving that it works. Major publishers are utilizing the technology to drive traffic and finding that with development, the platforms are effective. Competition has started to pick up recently, though, as Yahoo announced 'Yahoo Recommends' last year that Vox Media, CBS Interactive, and Hearst are currently using. Google is also reportedly in the beta-testing stages of its own content recommendation service. Though with Taboola's latest round of funding, it looks like the firm is more than ready to compete.