Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
TikTocking Dollars
TikTok wants in on the ecommerce action that has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s introducing new ad formats designed for purchase conversions on the platform. Business Insider reports that the Chinese video app plans to roll out new tools l that allow brands to show their products, retarget interested users, and highlight sales and promotions. TikTok has been testing several new formats including collection ads and dynamic product ads. Collection ads allow brands to combine product catalogs and branded videos to lead consumers to product landing pages. Dynamic product ads automatically retarget people with products according to their online behaviors. The tech giant plans to release these new features in the first half of 2021. Read on.
Big Money
A month after filing an S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, DoubleVerify set the terms of its IPO. The New York-based ad verification company could bring home a $4.2 billion valuation. According to MarketWatch, the IPO is expected to price between $24 and $27 a share. The company is offering 8.63 million shares to raise up to $232.9 million, while selling shareholders are offering an additional 4.71 million shares. Twelve banks, led by Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan, are underwriting the deal. According to its S-1 filing, DoubleVerify experienced strong, but slowing, revenue growth last year. The company joins a growing list of recent ad tech IPOs that include Pubmatic and Viant. DoubleVerify brought in $244 million gross revenue in 2020, a 34% increase from 2019. Its net income increased dramatically — from $3 million in 2018 to $23.3 million in 2019 – though it dipped to $20.4 million in 2020 due to a jump in expenses. Still, the company is looking to go public at a time of tempered investor demand for IPOs. [Related in AdExchanger: DoubleVerify Reveals Financials As Company Files S-1]
Cashing Checks
Speaking of ad tech valuations: GumGum has clinched $75 million from Goldman Sachs Growth, bringing its total funding to $122 million. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company is now valued at nearly $700 million — nearly tripling the valuation from its 2019 funding round. GumGum’s technology combines computer vision and AI to match contextual ads with digital and video content in a way that’s not reliant on cookies or mobile identifiers. With government regulations and new privacy rules being rolled out by Apple and Google that will limit the ability of advertisers, publishers and tech companies to track users and target ads based on identifiable data, GumGum’s contextual advertising is one of many alternatives gaining traction with investors as a way to reach consumers. GumGum is using the capital to expand its business internationally, which includes acquiring other tech firms. And by the way it’s also investing in building out its contextual advertising tech for streaming video and TV as more ad dollars flow into the CTV space. [Related in AdExchanger: Contextual On The Upswing, With GumGum CEO Phil Schraeder]
But Wait, There’s More!
Facebook’s oversight board has widened its scope to rule on content left up on the platform. [Reuters]
Vendors are jostling for position ahead of an expected pivot back toward contextual targeting. [Digiday]
Omnicom has launched an Anti-Asian hate PSA challenge for agencies. [Ad Age]
Berlin Brands Group has raised $240 million to buy and scale up third-party Amazon Marketplace brands. [TechCrunch]
ID5 and Smart have teamed up to ensure Universal ID capabilities in a cookieless environment. [release]
Bombora snagged $20M from Runway Growth Capital. [release]
You’re Hired!
Tinder has named George Felix CMO. [WSJ]
PHD has named Katie Klein as its new president of integrated investment. [Ad Age]
Intersection has hired Sheri Ham as vice president of programmatic partnerships and sales. [release]
