Taboola vs TikTok

AdExchanger Podcast: Infillion-Foursquare, Taboola-Dianomi, WarnerMount Merger

This AdExchanger podcast episode discusses two ad tech acquisitions from last Friday: Infillion's acquisition of Foursquare, adding location data to its ad tech stack, and Taboola's acquisition of Dianomi, targeting the finance vertical. Editor-in-Chief Allison Schiff provides rationale and potential synergies. The episode also covers the Warner Bros.-Paramount merger, now dubbed 'WarnerMount', as the major antitrust hurdle was resolved when California and 11 other states settled their lawsuit. Paramount had threatened to leave California, which pressured the settlement. A new legal challenge emerged but is seen as less formidable. The discussion highlights the strategic moves in ad tech consolidation and the significant regulatory scrutiny on major media mergers.

• Infillion acquired Foursquare, adding location data to its ad tech stack.
• Taboola made an offer to acquire ad network Dianomi to target the finance vertical.
• California and 11 other states settled an antitrust lawsuit against the Warner Bros.-Paramount merger.

PolyAI, Taboola, Contentful, Docusign Win 2026 Digiday Tech Awards

The 2026 Digiday Technology Awards recognized companies leveraging AI and automation to enhance personalized experiences, targeting, and performance. PolyAI won Best AI Tool for its agentic dialog platform, which powers SafeRide Health's AI agent 'Steven', reducing speak-to-human rates from 55% to 2%. Taboola's Adam Singolda was named Technology Founder of the Year for launching DeeperDive, a conversational AI platform for publishers. Contentful and Docusign won Best Personalization & A/B Testing Platform, with Docusign using Contentful Personalization to launch tailored homepages across 20 audience segments, reaching 6.19 million monthly active profiles by March 2026. The awards span categories like affiliate marketing, agentic AI, CDPs, and clean rooms.

• PolyAI won Best AI Tool for its agentic dialog platform, with SafeRide Health's AI agent 'Steven' managing 80% of inbound calls.
• Adam Singolda, founder and CEO of Taboola, was named Technology Founder of the Year for DeeperDive.
• DeeperDive generates nearly three times more revenue per user for publishers.

Taboola Launches Realize ID

Taboola has launched Realize ID, a new cookieless identity solution for the open web, announced on September 23, 2026. The solution unifies usage, advertising, and conversion signals from its ecosystem to predict purchase intent, integrating data from publisher and advertiser activities such as content consumption, search terms, ad interactions, and conversions. Realize ID supports hashed email addresses from CRMs, custom identifiers, and over 15 data platform integrations, with clean room matching planned. This launch is part of Taboola's strategy to expand from native advertising to performance display, following its platform launch and opening to external AI applications. The open web identity market remains fragmented with competitors like NetID, Utiq, ID5, EUID, and Ramp ID.

• Taboola launched Realize ID, a cookieless identity solution for the open web, on September 23, 2026.
• Realize ID combines usage, ad, and conversion signals to predict purchase intent.
• Supports hashed email addresses, custom identifiers, and over 15 data platform integrations.

TikTok Adds AI Shopping Assistant and Direct Brand Checkout

TikTok has rolled out an AI-powered Shopping Assistant and a new in-app checkout feature in the U.S., allowing users to buy products directly from brands within the For You feed, separate from TikTok Shop. The conversational AI agent provides product details, shipping, sizing, and purchase assistance, while the one-click checkout enables seamless purchases without leaving the app. These features are developed in partnership with Salesforce, Shopify, Shoplazza, and Stripe, aiming to move users from discovery to action, as stated by David Kaufman, TikTok's global head of monetization and product partnerships. This expansion beyond TikTok Shop underscores TikTok's growing e-commerce footprint. The platform's Economic Impact Report estimates an $81 billion contribution to U.S. GDP, with 54 million Americans purchasing after watching videos, and TikTok Shop generated $15.8 billion in U.S. sales in 2025.

• TikTok launched an AI shopping assistant and one-click checkout feature in the U.S.
• The features are built in partnership with Salesforce, Shopify, Shoplazza, and Stripe.
• TikTok's Economic Impact Report estimates $81 billion in U.S. GDP contribution.

TikTok Expands Off-Platform Ad Network to US

TikTok expanded its TikTok Ad Network (formerly Pangle) to US advertisers, announced at Advertising Week New York. The network spans nearly 400,000 premium third-party apps globally, allowing advertisers to extend campaigns off-platform. It aims to increase TikTok's share of ad budgets by leveraging its data and algorithms. Advertisers express cautious interest, seeking transparency, control, and proof of incremental reach, while noting competition from Google, Meta, and Amazon. Some see potential for lower CPMs and improved performance with proper guardrails. TikTok's US ad revenue was $14.12 billion in 2025, projected to reach $17.69 billion in 2026, with global ad revenue projected at $43.89 billion by end of 2026.

• TikTok expanded its TikTok Ad Network (formerly Pangle) to US advertisers at Advertising Week New York.
• The network spans nearly 400,000 premium apps globally and sells ads across TikTok's own apps and third-party apps.
• TikTok's US ad revenue was $14.12 billion in 2025, projected to reach $17.69 billion in 2026.

TikTok Unveils AI-Powered Updates for Advertisers: Driving Discovery, Action, and Measurable Business Outcomes

At Advertising Week New York 2026, TikTok is unveiling agentic solutions across every stage of the customer journey, including new Agentic Commerce shopping experiences (Buy Direct, Shopping Assistant), Agentic Leads, TikTok Ad Network (TTAN) for US advertisers, and expanded AI automation capabilities with Smart+ and GMV Max.