Weekly martech review: Twilio to acquire SendGrid, Facebook restricts spam, YouTube TV-tailored campaigns
We review the top news in martech from the week of October 15–22, 2018.
In our review of last week’s martech news, we highlight Twilio to acquire to SendGrid, Facebook’s new restrictions on spammy ads, and YouTube’s addition of TV as a device type in tailored campaigns.
Twilio to acquire SendGrid for $2 billion
What it is
Twilio is a cloud technology company that handles communications like voice, SMS, video, web and mobile chat, and channels like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. By acquiring email technology company SendGrid, they round out their communications offerings. The all-stock $2 billion deal is expected to close in early 2019.
Why it matters
Acquiring an email technology platform — rather than building their own — is an efficient way for Twilio to quickly adapt to customer needs, especially given the unique regulations that govern email marketing.
Interestingly, Reuters noted that while the acquisition may seem expensive — 10 times SendGrid’s 2019 revenue, Salesforce’s recent acquisition of MuleSoft was equal to 12 times MuleSoft’s future revenue.
Facebook restricts spammy, low-quality, disruptive ads
What it is
In a blog post, Facebook announced new restrictions on content deemed to be low-quality, disruptive, exaggerated, and/or spammed with clickbait. This can include content featuring excessive requests for likes, comments, and shares, with annoyingly hidden words so you click, and with exaggerated headlines that over-promise and under-deliver.
Why it matters
First off, let’s just say “about time.” For anyone who’s a bit over it with the “like4like” and “follow4follow” tags on social media, these new restrictions will be well-received. The move applies to all advertisers, but ads related to media, entertainment, politics and issues will be particularly impacted.
YouTube now lets advertisers tailor campaigns for TVs
What it is
Google announced that you can now choose ‘TV screens’ as a device type on YouTube when tailoring ad campaigns, allowing marketers to now optimize ads for bigger screens, as well as adjust bids to include TV.
Why it matters
In the past, YouTube campaigns could be tailored to smartphones, tablets, and traditional computers. The addition of TV follows the shift of YouTube users — with the rise of connected TVs, Chromecast, and game consoles, more and more people use YouTube through bigger screens, rather than just desktop.
Before you go
- Our latest research report, The Era of Ecommerce, released Friday exposing significant gap between how consumers browse and purchase online and where advertisers spend. More info available here.
- Amazon is on track to dominate apparel sales — what’s next for retailers?
- Data from Snapchat on “A week in the life of a snapchatter” — we pulled key findings for marketers here.
- Instagram ad spend has increased by 177% YoY in Q2 2018 — how will it affect your strategy?
- Seva raised $2.4 million in seed round to expand marketing and SaaS platform.
- Google released new version of Shopping Insights tool, allowing marketers to compare brand popularity within product categories.
See something we missed? Leave us a comment below!
