Deals & Moves

GroupM's Wavemaker acquired Acceleration, a performance marketing and commerce agency, to strengthen its e-commerce and retail media capabilities. The acquisition positions Wavemaker to better serve clients navigating the growing retail media landscape.

LiveRamp launched its Clean Room as a Service offering, enabling brands, publishers, and platforms to create custom data clean rooms for privacy-safe collaboration. The solution addresses the industry's need for secure data matching and measurement in the post-cookie era.

Attention, an attention measurement platform for digital advertising, raised $14M in Series A funding. The company uses AI and eye-tracking research to predict and measure actual attention to ads, moving beyond viewability metrics.

Scibids, an AI-powered advertising optimization platform, raised $14M in Series A funding. The platform uses custom AI algorithms to optimize programmatic bidding strategies, helping advertisers improve campaign performance across DSPs.

Paramount Global and Walmart announced a strategic partnership to integrate Walmart's shopper data with Paramount's streaming advertising on Paramount+. The partnership enables closed-loop measurement from ad exposure to in-store and online purchases at Walmart.

Mediaocean acquired Innovid, a leading independent connected TV ad platform, for approximately $500 million. The acquisition combines Mediaocean's advertising infrastructure with Innovid's CTV measurement and analytics capabilities, creating an end-to-end solution for converged TV advertising.

Dstillery, an AI-powered advertising technology company, appointed Michael Beebe as CEO to lead the company's growth in cookieless targeting solutions. Beebe previously served as President and brings extensive experience in data-driven marketing technology.

Skai acquired Adthena, a competitive intelligence platform for paid search advertising. The acquisition enhances Skai's capabilities in competitive analysis and market intelligence for advertisers managing search campaigns across Google, Microsoft, and Amazon.

Wunderkind (formerly BounceX) raised $76 million in Series D funding to expand its performance marketing platform focused on identity resolution and triggered messaging. The funding supports growth in its autonomous marketing solutions for e-commerce brands.

Snap acquired Th3rd, a 3D and AR creation platform, to enhance its AR advertising capabilities and make it easier for brands to create immersive ad experiences. The acquisition strengthens Snap's position in AR commerce and advertising technology.

Taboola acquired Connexity, a performance-based e-commerce advertising platform, for approximately $800 million. The acquisition expands Taboola's presence in e-commerce advertising and product recommendation technology, adding shopping-specific ad inventory and capabilities.

Innovid acquired TVSquared, a TV attribution and measurement platform, for $160 million to create a comprehensive CTV and linear TV advertising measurement solution. The combined platform provides cross-screen measurement and attribution for converged TV advertising.

Epsilon, Publicis Groupe's data and technology division, appointed Shawn Higa as CEO, succeeding Bryan Kennedy. Higa previously led Epsilon's technology and innovation efforts and the transition focuses on accelerating the company's identity and data platform strategy.

Horizon Media acquired Chalice Custom Algorithms, a data science and AI-powered optimization platform for media buying. The acquisition enhances Horizon's programmatic capabilities with custom algorithmic bidding and campaign optimization technology.

Dun & Bradstreet acquired Lattice Engines, an AI-powered B2B marketing and sales intelligence platform. The acquisition strengthens D&B's data and analytics capabilities for B2B advertising targeting and account-based marketing solutions.

IRIS.TV raised $12 million in Series B funding to expand its video-level contextual targeting and measurement platform for streaming TV and digital video. The platform uses AI to analyze video content for cookieless targeting and brand suitability.

Scibids, an AI-powered programmatic optimization platform, raised $22 million in Series B funding to expand its custom bidding algorithms and campaign optimization technology. The platform uses machine learning to optimize programmatic advertising across DSPs.

Flashtalking appointed John Nitti as CEO following its acquisition by Mediaocean. Nitti, formerly CEO of Innovid, leads the combined ad serving and creative technology platform with focus on CTV and omnichannel advertising measurement.

Basis Technologies acquired Centro, a digital media automation platform, for approximately $350 million to create one of the largest independent programmatic platforms. The combined company serves agencies with workflow automation, programmatic buying, and campaign management tools.

Walmart's advertising business, Walmart Connect, reached $3.4 billion in annual revenue, marking significant growth in the retail media space. This milestone positions Walmart as the third-largest retail media network in the US behind Amazon and Instacart. The growth was driven by expanded advertiser adoption and new ad products including sponsored search and display.

Yahoo acquired Flycast Media from Omnicom Media Group to strengthen its programmatic advertising capabilities and expand its supply-side platform. The acquisition adds premium publisher relationships and advanced programmatic technology to Yahoo's advertising stack. This move is part of Yahoo's strategy to rebuild its advertising technology infrastructure.

Albertsons Media Collective announced it surpassed $1.5 billion in annual advertising revenue, demonstrating rapid growth in the grocery retail media sector. The network expanded its off-site advertising capabilities and added new measurement solutions. This growth comes as CPG brands increasingly shift budgets to retail media networks for better attribution.

Snap acquired Th3rd, an AR shopping platform, to enhance its augmented reality advertising capabilities for e-commerce. The acquisition enables brands to create immersive AR shopping experiences within Snapchat and supports Snap's AR Enterprise Services division. This move strengthens Snap's position in AR-powered advertising as brands seek more interactive ad formats.

Instacart launched its Ads API, enabling programmatic access to its retail media network for advertisers and agencies. The API allows automated campaign management, real-time bidding, and integration with third-party advertising platforms. This launch makes Instacart's $740M+ advertising business more accessible to enterprise advertisers and demand-side platforms.