E-commerce marketing network Connexity acquired by Taboola for $800M

In a deal made up of cash and stock, content discovery and recommendation business Taboola has purchased e-commerce marketing network Connexity for $800 million.

As one of the largest independent e-commerce media platforms, Connexity provides services to more than 1,600 merchants and 6,000 publishers, including brands like Walmart, eBay and Otto.

In an e-commerce marketplace increasingly dominated by major players like Amazon, Taboola hopes this partnership will enable both publishers and retailers to make sales outside of the ecosystem dominated by firms that take a major profit cut.

The services offered by Connexity include in-stream advertising, shopping search ads and affiliate links, as well as an ability to get the attention of online shoppers and convert these leads into sales. With this acquisition, Taboola is primed to introduce its services to new segments and content types.

With publishers around the world constantly seeking out new revenue streams, the combination of Connexity and Taboola will allow editorial content to be connected with product recommendations, enabling consumers to easily purchase products related to the content they are reading. The US e-Commerce media market is estimated to total £25.4bn, indicating the opportunity to achieve strong revenue figures from this purchase.

According to Adam Singolda, CEO and founder of Taboola, the growth of social commerce shows the high value of commerce alongside content. “E-Commerce is the future of the open web, consumers will be buying outside of Amazon, on publishers’ sites next to trusted editorial content a lot more than they are today,” explains Singolda.

“Amazon has millions of merchants, but merchants mainly have Amazon. That changes today. Combining Taboola and Connexity’s technologies is one step forward in creating an alternative to walled gardens”, he concludes.