MediaMath Is Looking For A Buyer; IAB Encourages Activism Among Employees

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Do The Math

MediaMath is pursuing strategic options, including a potential sale, Digiday reports. MediaMath has more than $500 million in debt and investments to recoup, so it’s a tough sell. Retailers such as Walmart and Target might have the balance sheets, but not the appetite for a big DSP takeover. Google or Amazon would certainly be blocked on antitrust grounds. AT&T? Don’t think so. Oracle and Salesforce don’t have DSPs of their own … because they’ve been vocally opposed to owning one. Zeta Global or The Trade Desk could make the deal, but wouldn’t pay the premium. Last year, MediaMath launched the SOURCE partnership with Rubicon Project and Telaria, which have since merged … into a possible acquirer? But Rubicon’s market cap is only $770 million, so that’s a pretty unlikely scenario.

IAB GOTV

The IAB and IAB Tech Lab announced on Thursday that, in response to the protests over racial inequality and scenes of violence against citizens and the press, it will give all employees two days paid time off per month between now and Election Day, Nov. 3, to volunteer for a political campaign, party or cause they believe in. Read the release. Industry trade groups rarely publicize direct political action (they need to lobby regardless of who controls the legislative or executive branch). But the IAB isn’t mincing words. “The Interactive Advertising Bureau and the IAB Tech Lab share the fears of our diverse staff and membership that the democratic principles underlying the constitutional basis of republican government in the United States are under assault.”

EBay’s Trim New Look

EBay raised its 2020 revenue forecast as ecommerce sales remain high months into the COVID-19 crisis, according to an SEC filing on Thursday. In April and May, eBay added 6 million new or reactivated customers, Bloomberg reports. The company also said it’s exploring options for a sale of its classifieds business, having sold the ticketing company StubHub last November. The classifieds unit is the last of eBay’s outlier subsidiaries, after a years-long series of divestitures going back to Skype and PayPal. Investors think that a laser-focused approach to the online marketplace and ads – without extraneous revenue lines – will improve the overall business. EBay shares closed at an all-time high, after jumping more than 6% to more than $49 during the day.

New Waze To Buy

Waze, the Google-owned mapping app, lost 60% of its revenue at the peak of the pandemic in April. There’s just no getting around the fact that the number of miles driven by app users dropped by 71%. But Waze was able to bring back some ad budgets with new products that respond to coronavirus-specific business needs, Business Insider reports. For instance, Waze built a data dashboard for a fast food chain that shows local driving and shopping patterns, which can help businesses decide where and when to reopen locations. Another new offering called “Location Personality” ads allows businesses to display whether they’re accepting drive-through or curbside pickup sales. It’ll be interesting to see whether such products remain in use after the pandemic (and if Google continues to charge for those features or provides it as default info within the app UI).

But Wait, There’s More!