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Taboola, a paid content syndication network, will be acquiring Los Angeles-based Perfect Market for an undisclosed amount. Perfect Market's software drives traffic, engagement and revenue for content in ways similar to Taboola.
With new technology from Perfect Market, “Taboola will create a world-class content discovery platform that provides publishers with a one-stop-shop for full-page monetization across all platforms,” said Perfect Market CEO Julie Schoenfeld. “The new programmatic offering will be called Taboola-X, and will enhance Taboola’s existing paid-content offering.”
“Taboola has done a great job of including a widget at the bottom of the content well," said Schoenfeld. “The click through rate on sponsored content is surprisingly high, which indicates true interest in the stories.”
Taboola, which currently provides paid sponsored story spots in a thumbnail gallery at the bottom of articles, will gain the ability via Perfect Market to syndicate content throughout a webpage: “The combination of the two companies will create an opportunity to provide full page monetization,” said Schoenfeld. Taboola’s acquisition of Perfect Market came naturally as they had partnered before and have similar customer bases.
“We had received interest from other parties, so it seemed like a good time to explore what was going on in the market. It is critical in digital media to get big fast if you want to have any kind of impact,” said Schoenfeld. “It seemed like a great fit as both teams are aggressive, no nonsense and run lean. Additionally, Taboola was growing at an even faster rate than Perfect Market. As a CEO you balance a lot of factors, but finding a great strategic fit for both the investors and employees is at the top of the list. “
Perfect Market is an Idealab alumni company and had raised a little over $30 million. Its investors included Idealab, Rustic Canyon Partners, Tribune Co., Trinity Ventures and Square 1 Financial. By purchasing Perfect Market Taboola said its revenue will rise to a yearly run-rate of about $250 million.
“Taboola is hot, hot, hot and we are really excited to be part of their team because we believe we can change the landscape for publishers," said Schoenfeld.
