Home The Big Story The Big Story: Highway To The Machine Zone

The Big Story: Highway To The Machine Zone

SHARE:
The Big Story podcast

The M&A has been relentless this past week, with AppLovin buying the game publisher Machine Zone, Facebook buying GIPHY and Twitter buying the DSP CrossInstall.

On this episode, the team breaks down what each acquisition means. What is CrossInstall, and why would Twitter need to actually own a demand-side platform? Was Facebook buying GIPHY mostly a data play?

And in the week’s Holy S-H-I-T acquisition, the mobile ad startup AppLovin intends to acquire one of the world’s largest mobile gaming companies. Normally, you’d think it’d be the other way around.

Also in this episode, we’ll dive into the changing face of ecommerce. First, Facebook made another foray into ecommerce by introducing Shops. But this time, things are different. We’ll explain how.

Then, we’ll look at Target and Walmart. The two retail giants reported Q1 earnings this week and, surprise-surprise, saw a big boost in digital sales.


What do these changes say about the transformation of Americans’ shopping behaviors during the time of the coronavirus? And how can these two traditional brick-and-mortars leverage this progress to be even more competitive to Amazon?

Must Read

Integral Ad Science Goes Big On Social Media As Retail Ad Spend Softens In Q3

Integral Ad Science shares dropped more than 10% on Wednesday, after the company reported lackluster revenue growth and softened its guidance for the Q4 season.

Comic: Gen AI Pumpkin Carving Contest

Meet Evertune, A Gen-AI Analytics Startup Founded By Trade Desk Vets

Meet Evertune AI, a startup that helps advertisers understand how their brands and products appear in generative AI search responses.

Private Equity Firm Buys Alliant As The Centerpiece To Its Platform Dreams

The deal is a “platform investment,” in which Inverness Graham sees Alliant as a foundation to build on, potentially through further acquisitions.

Privacy! Commerce! Connected TV! Read all about it. Subscribe to AdExchanger Newsletters

Even Sony Needed Guidance For Its First In-Game Ad Campaign

In-game advertising is uncharted territory even for brands like Sony Electronics that consumers associate with gaming.

Comic: Always Be Paddling

The Trade Desk Maintains Its High Growth Rate And Touts New Channels

“It’s hard not to be bullish about CTV when it’s both our largest channel and our fastest growing,” said The Trade Desk Founder and CEO Green during the company’s earnings report on Thursday.

After The Election, News Corp Has Harsh Words For Advertisers Who Avoided News

News Corp’s chief exec blasted “the blatant biases of ad agencies and ad associations,” which are “boycotting certain media properties” due to “personal political prejudices.”