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Tag: Taboola

  • AI meets news: India Today leads the way

    AI meets news: India Today leads the way

    MUMBAI: When it comes to news, India Today is taking a deeper dive. The media giant has become the first in the APAC region to launch Taboola’s Deeperdive, a Gen AI answer engine designed to bring instant, trustworthy answers straight to readers on its own sites.

    Deeperdive taps into decades of India Today’s rich editorial content, allowing readers to ask questions on anything from election analysis to trending stories, and get AI-powered answers sourced from trusted journalists. The engine even suggests related queries, keeping users engaged longer and exploring more of the site.

    “Pioneering journalism means being future-ready,” said India Today Group vice chairperson and executive editor-in-chief Kalli Purie. “With Deeperdive, we’re offering richer experiences, staying connected to our readers, and unlocking new AI-powered frontiers of engagement and monetisation.”

    Taboola CEO and founder Adam Singolda added, “India Today is a must-visit destination for news and analysis. Deeperdive lets them join the Gen AI revolution on their own terms, delivering trusted answers while opening search-like advertising opportunities.”

    Built to understand the “pulse of the internet,” Deeperdive analyses trends from over 600 million daily users across 9,000 publishers. Unlike traditional AI engines, it uses real-time data to deliver timely, contextual insights, ensuring readers get answers that matter, right when they need them.

    For publishers, this means longer reader engagement, more site exploration, and high-intent ad revenue within their own environments, all while maintaining a seamless, intuitive experience.

    With 50 years of journalistic excellence and a digital presence spanning Aaj Tak, Business Today, and The Lallantop, India Today is leveraging AI not just to keep pace with change, but to lead it, showing that when it comes to content, the future is very much now.

  • Brands unplugged as CXOs decode trust, traffic and tech at IBS 2025

    Brands unplugged as CXOs decode trust, traffic and tech at IBS 2025

    MUMBAI: When it comes to building brands in today’s attribution-obsessed world, traffic isn’t just on the roads, it’s the lifeblood of every founder’s morning routine. That was the cheeky starting point at the CXOs Unplugged: Building Brands in the Age of Attribution session at the 3rd India Brand Summit 2025, where candid confessions flowed as freely as marketing buzzwords.

    Bartisans co-founder Jovita Mascarenhas admitted she checks Shopify impressions before coffee: “How many people even got to know about us? Conversion comes later. Awareness is the scariest metric.” For Abhinav Pathak, CEO & Co-Founder of Escape Plan, the stress of traffic is daily revenue pressure: “Yesterday’s traffic, today’s revenue. I’d be on my toes with WhatsApp broadcasts to make up the gap.”

    But traffic panic wasn’t the only anxiety in the room. Aseem Shakti founder & CEO Swati Singh delivered a sharp warning on the limits of AI: “A major disruption will come from the growing skepticism around AI-generated content. Trust is diminishing. Offline marketing will be just as important as digital in the next few years.” Her mantra: trust-building is oxygen for the present, but authentic storytelling is the food that sustains brand longevity. “If you feed your company junk food weak storytelling, it may survive today but not thrive tomorrow.”

    Taboola advertising account director Vibhu Anand pushed back gently, arguing AI is less about hype, more about real-time insights. “AI is a phase everyone’s jumping on, but it’s about finding your niche. It’s still going to need people to guide the insights. Trust-building will require heavy investment in technology.” Taboola itself is testing Deepadive, an AI engine to keep readers loyal to publisher sites in an age of content drift.

    The conversation veered into funding scars when Mascarenhas recalled her early VC experience: “They once told me, ‘Shut down.’ Cocktail mixers in India? People thought it was fruit juice. Building a category takes patience VCs often don’t have.” Her solution has been doubling down on storytelling, a mother-son brand journey, clean ingredients, and unapologetic positioning in a culture wary of drinking at home.

    Pathak echoed the need for balancing numbers with narrative. “Performance marketing is oxygen, but content is fitness. I want my brand to last 10, 20, 50 years, not just today.” She confessed Shark Tank still drives virality every month, but admitted splurging on radio and film premieres despite fuzzy attribution because “it builds trust and perception.”

    And if consumer trust is wobbling, commerce itself isn’t slowing. Mascarenhas quipped that “quick commerce will continue disrupting retail for the next few years,” underscoring how founders now battle both shrinking consumer patience and multiplying competition.

    Wondrlab COO Sanju Menon, session chair, kept the banter flowing, but the takeaway was clear: in an age where every click is tracked, brand-building is about patience, authenticity, and choosing when to lean on dashboards versus when to lean into storytelling.

    As Anand put it, “It’s more expensive to acquire a new user than keep a repeat one. Storytelling and trust may not show up on a dashboard tomorrow, but six months down the line, they slash your acquisition costs by 25 per cent.”

    Attribution may be the age we live in, but as the CXOs unplugged, it’s still trust, traffic, and timeless storytelling that keep brands truly alive.

  • Akshay Singh ventures into entrepreneurship with BlueOrbit

    Akshay Singh ventures into entrepreneurship with BlueOrbit

    Mumbai: After nearly five years at Taboola, where he led the APAC account management team from their Bangkok HQ, Akshay Singh has made a significant career move.

    He now embarks on a new venture as co-founder of BlueOrbit, focusing on performance marketing and arbitrage.

    Prior to Taboola, he was associated with Sizmek by Amazon, Google and Lyxel Labs. 
     

  • Taboola introduces Taboola Select

    Taboola introduces Taboola Select

    Mumbai: Taboola, wearing recommendations for the open web,  announced Taboola Select, a new offering created exclusively for large advertisers that provides access to a curated selection of Taboola’s premium editorial partnerships.

    For the first time, Taboola is offering advertisers a way to leverage a highly curated subset of just 15 percent of Taboola’s most premium publishers in the U.S., to drive performance campaigns. Taboola Select offers advertisers a way to connect with millions of daily active users on premium destinations including Yahoo, Business Insider, and The Associated Press in inventory that is highly visible, brand-safe and surrounded solely by trusted editorial content.

    Taboola Select allows advertisers to tap into standalone placements on nearly every part of esteemed publisher sites, including homepages, mid-article sections and in a new position called Featured Placements.

    Brands that choose Taboola Select can harness the power of CPC buying and leverage Taboola’s advanced AI, including the highly effective Maximize Conversions bidding technology, which consistently reduces CPAs by 15 per cent on average.

    “Taboola is giving advertisers the inventory they need, on the most trusted publishers in the world, to reach consumers,” said Taboola CEO Adam Singolda. “Reliable and effective performance advertising has always been crucial, as these types of campaigns continue to help brands stay resilient and drive results regardless of industry headwinds. Taboola Select is one of the industry’s most unique packages for large advertisers to tap into, to run performance campaigns to reach consumers at scale. We’re combining brand-safe environments via our direct relationships with the world’s most premium publishers, with prominent ad placements that brands simply can’t get anywhere else.”

  • Taboola’s AI that automatically maximizes conversions sees double growth in 90 days

    Taboola’s AI that automatically maximizes conversions sees double growth in 90 days

    Mumbai:  Taboola, an organisation in powering recommendations for the open web, announced rapid adoption and results for its performance advertising focused bidding technology, called Maximise conversions. Since launching just 3 months ago, this technology is already being used by 50 per cent of Taboola advertisers, including Hyundai, ERGO, Leica Camera, Sonova, Peugeot Turkey, and Opel Turkey, with some advertisers seeing 110 per cent increases in conversions.

    Taboola’s Maximise conversions empowers Taboola advertisers to evolve beyond manual and time consuming cost per click (CPC) bidding strategies, in favour of simply specifying a budget and having Taboola’s algorithm automate the CPC bid to drive as many conversions as possible, while staying within budget. Advertisers are using maximize conversions to drive results, boosting conversions while maintaining their cost per acquisition (CPA). In addition to making ad campaigns more effective, maximising conversions has also provided immense benefit in making campaigns more efficient, reducing the time in which advertisers get to their optimal results by half.

    Maximise conversions is designed to give advertisers flexibility for their campaigns. The technology can be used without a target CPA, which delivers against an advertiser’s daily budget, driving the most conversions at the lowest cost. When used with a target CPA, it delivers performance at a CPA they control.

    Taboola CEO and founder Adam Singolda said, “Maximise conversion is one of our most rapidly adopted offerings ever. The world’s top advertisers are embracing it because it takes the guesswork out of CPC bidding, it clearly produces results, and it is based on AI that is trained with an understanding of their consumer’s one that is unique to Taboola. We’re connecting advertisers with customers quickly and easily, no matter what goal an advertiser has.”

  • Taboola releases India readership insights around popular topics

    Taboola releases India readership insights around popular topics

    Mumbai: As the calendar turns its final pages for 2023, Taboola, a global leader in powering recommendations for the open web, helping people discover things they may like, today released the readership insights for the year 2023. Using topic insights, Taboola Newsroom used real-time audience analytics to discover some of the interesting and trending topics that caught Indian readers’ attention during the year. From space exploration and hosting the G20 summit to the Cricket World Cup, online shopping, festive kitchens, and Bollywood glitz, the nation has felt a range of emotions.

    Chandrayaan’s landing triumph and G20 leadership

    The year 2023 marked a significant triumph for Indian science with the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar surface on 23 August 2023. The nation collectively held its breath as the spacecraft made its descent, and when it touched down successfully, it not only etched a historic moment for the ISRO but also ignited the imagination of a nation that aspires to conquer the cosmic frontier. With over 12 million pageviews on the Taboola Newsroom witnessed between August and September, the images and data sent back by Chandrayaan-3 opened new chapters in scientific discovery, placing India prominently on the global space exploration map.

    Simultaneously, in a pivotal moment for global diplomacy, India assumed the G20 presidency in 2023 between 9 September and 10 September, seizing the opportunity to shape the narrative on critical global issues. The G20 coverage emerged as a source of insights, attracting a significant readership of around one million on the Taboola Newsroom.

    Exciting cricket highlights from the world cup

    The familiar roar of cricket enthusiasts was witnessed on the Taboola Newsroom as the ICC Cricket World Cup took the spotlight, with over 53 million pageviews during October and November, showcasing the unwavering passion of Indian cricket fans. The stadiums echoed with cheers, and the streets buzzed with discussions as the cricketing battles unfolded. While the desired trophy remained elusive, the spirit, resilience, and passion of the Indian team left an enduring mark on the cricketing landscape.

    E-commerce Battleground and Festive Fasting

    The e-commerce battleground witnessed a spectacular showdown in 2023. As per the data by Taboola Newsroom, Amazon Great Indian Festival led the charge with more than 1.4 million pageviews in the month of October. The online marketplace overflowed with eager shoppers seizing the opportunity to indulge in gadgets, fashion, and more. What was once a mere transactional experience evolved into a nationwide celebration of savings and style, reaffirming the growing influence of e-commerce in shaping consumer experiences.

    As festivals adorned the calendar from October onwards, Indian kitchens became laboratories of culinary creativity. Navratri fasting recipes and Janmashtami delights danced their way into digital hearts, accumulating a staggering 20 million pageviews. These weren’t just recipes; they were tales of tradition, stories told through the sizzle of spices and the aroma of home-cooked love.  Social media was buzzing with food bloggers and home chefs sharing their creative spins on traditional fasting recipes, encouraging others to enjoy the fun of festive cooking.

    Cinematic magic unfolded with the launch of the year’s blockbuster movies

    Bollywood cast its spell in 2023. With the release of ‘Pathan’ in January and ‘Jawan’ in September. They emerged as the protagonists of box office tales, accumulating a whopping 38 million pageviews on the Taboola Newsroom. While the release of ‘Gadar’ in August, a reincarnation of historical epics, and ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani’ in July, a modern love symphony, added their chapters to the cinematic odyssey with 20 million and 15 million pageviews respectively. These weren’t just films; they were narratives that intertwined with the fabric of Indian storytelling, providing an escape, a mirror, and a shared experience for audiences nationwide.

    In the online world today, every click is like a vote or a shared emotion. Taboola’s Newsroom tells us about a country where people are connected by curiosity, dreams, and shared experiences. As we go into 2024, let’s think of these digital footprints as our guide. They remind us that on the internet, our stories, achievements, and dreams are all part of our shared journey.

  • Unwrapping the 2023 holiday shopping season: A global perspective from Taboola Newsroom

    Unwrapping the 2023 holiday shopping season: A global perspective from Taboola Newsroom

    Mumbai: As the curtains fall on another year, the world eagerly anticipates the grand spectacle of the holiday shopping season. Beyond the tinsel and festive cheer, this annual ritual is a dynamic battleground where retailers and consumers engage in a dance of trends and preferences. Insights from Taboola Newsroom light up the 2023 holiday shopping season, unveiling a global landscape with unique patterns.

    Amidst the glittering lights and cheerful carols, the resounding theme of this year’s festivities is clear: savings take center stage. Taboola’s global data unfolds a narrative where consumers, driven by a world where every penny counts, are on a relentless quest for discounts, budget-friendly options, and lucrative deals as the Taboola Newsroom reveals a surge in consumer interest in keywords such as “Discounts” (up by 131%), “Budget” (up by 27%), and “Deals” (up by 10%).

    For retailers, this presents a unique opportunity to craft their marketing strategies around the theme of savings. Promotions, discounts, and budget-friendly offerings are likely to resonate with consumers. Brands that can effectively convey their value proposition in terms of affordability stand to gain a significant advantage in this competitive holiday season.

    Early Shopping and Extended Holidays: A New Shopping Landscape

    Traditionally, the holiday shopping season used to kick off in earnest on Amazon’s Great Indian Festival Sale and Flipkart’s Big Billion Days. However, in recent years, consumers have been starting their holiday shopping earlier, driven by various factors. In India, the holiday shopping buzz starts during Dussehra and goes on until the New Year. It’s not just about buying things; it’s a time when families celebrate festivals like Diwali and prepare for Christmas. Streets light up, markets get busy, and online shopping becomes exciting. The joy of being together and the festive spirit blend with the thrill of finding the perfect gifts. So, from Dussehra to New Year’s, it’s a season of celebrations and shopping fun in India.

    Taboola’s data shows that “holidays” are surging in online interest by 180%. In the past week, certain retailers have harnessed the holiday fervor exceptionally well, experiencing a notable surge in online traffic. The frontrunners in this holiday shopping race include Multi-Category Retailers, boasting a remarkable increase of 26% in clicks. Christmas-themed retailers have witnessed a staggering uptick of 49%, while Gifting sites are not far behind with a solid 14% boost. Additionally, Food & Drink and Travel Accessories have seen respective increases of 11% and an impressive 49%. This surge in interest underscores the global resonance of the holiday season, as consumers around the world gear up for a festive shopping spree like never before.

    Weekend Surges and NRF Insights: Adapting to Evolving Holiday Shopping Behavior

    Despite retailers pushing out early promotions, the data from Taboola Newsroom suggests that November and December remain robust months for holiday shopping. Data from Skimlinks’ network aligns with the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2023 holiday shopping report, indicating that consumers are choosing to extend their holiday shopping over an extended period. This change in shopping behavior has implications for retailers. They need to prepare for an extended shopping season, ensuring that their promotions and inventory are available and relevant throughout this period. Retailers can no longer afford to focus solely on Prime Day and Big Billion Days; they need to capture the attention of consumers over a more extended time frame.

    Navigating the Landscape and Unwrapping Success

    In this dynamic and ever-evolving holiday shopping landscape, it becomes evident that consumers prioritize savings, early shopping, and an extended buying period. For retailers globally, this signals a call to action – a strategic alignment with these insights becomes imperative for a successful holiday season.

    The data shared by Taboola Newsroom provides a comprehensive roadmap to navigate the intricacies of the 2023 holiday shopping season. Savvy retailers will recognize the profound significance of savings in shaping consumer choices, expanding their reach to tap into the global market, and gearing up for an extended holiday shopping season that transcends traditional boundaries.

  • Taboola enhances generative AI capabilities

    Taboola enhances generative AI capabilities

    Mumbai: Taboola, a global leader in powering recommendations for the open web, today announced new advancements in its Generative AI technology for advertisers. With Taboola Generative AI AdMaker, advertisers can instantly make adjustments to existing creative assets, such as replacing backgrounds or generating image variations, significantly speeding the time it takes to launch their campaigns.

    One key use case for Taboola’s Generative AI AdMaker significantly improves advertisers’ ability to launch seasonal campaigns, allowing for automatic variations of existing campaign images with seasonal themes, such as those related to the holiday season, back to school, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, New Year’s Eve and more.

    Today’s news builds on recent momentum for Taboola’s Generative AI technology, which has been used by more than 3,500 clients around the world to generate content and copy for ad creative, such as titles, images and descriptions.

    More than 25% of all new creative assets created by Taboola self-service advertisers are leveraging some aspect of Taboola’s Generative AI technology, and in the first two weeks of launching a campaign with these assets, many campaigns that use the technology outperform those that did not use the technology.

    “Taboola’s Generative AI technology continues to unlock more benefits that advertisers are looking for, such as driving more customers and improving efficiency for running campaigns,” said Taboola CEO Adam Singolda. “We’re seeing great examples of advertisers already tapping into our Generative AI technology to get up and running faster with creative and copy that in some cases outperforms their evergreen campaigns. With AdMaker, we’re making it easier than ever for advertisers to test and launch variations on creative, which is an essential part of producing images that resonate especially with seasonal campaigns.”

    Taboola’s Generative AI technology has allowed advertisers to increase efficiency and effectiveness for their campaigns, directly within Taboola Ads, based on Taboola’s understanding of consumer intent. With it, advertisers can:

    1   Produce creative copy, creating variations of campaigns titles and descriptions that appeal to multiple audiences

    2   Generate original images, allowing for experimentation and building multiple creatives – to keep campaigns fresh and also maximize seasonal opportunities.

    3   Leverage best practices, with AI built on tens of thousands of successful campaigns that have delivered ROI for advertisers on Taboola.

  • Taboola and SportsKeeda forge an exclusive two-year content partnership

    Taboola and SportsKeeda forge an exclusive two-year content partnership

    Mumbai: Taboola, a global leader in powering recommendations for the open web, helping people discover things they may like, today announced a two-year partnership with Sportskeeda, a prominent, global sports content platform. This collaboration is set to elevate user engagement, expand audience reach, and unlock monetization possibilities by delivering premium, high-quality content recommendations to Sportskeeda’s readers.

    Sportskeeda, a well-known sports content platform, is a ‘Great Place to Work’ certified organisation and holds an impressive global rank of 8 on Similar Web, demonstrating its substantial and highly engaged audience. Through this strategic partnership, Sportskeeda aims to maximize revenue by enhancing audience engagement and providing its readers with tailored and relevant content recommendations.

    Under the exclusive agreement, Taboola will provide recommendations to Sportskeeda on Desktop, Mobile, and Accelerated Mobile (AMP) pages, along with integrated video capabilities. This offering will be live on all international traffic, covering prominent regions such as the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.

    Sportskeeda CEO Ajay Pratap Singh expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, and said, “We are thrilled to collaborate with Taboola to offer our readers a seamless and engaging content experience. Taboola’s reputation for superior performance and emphasis on delivering high-quality content perfectly align with our goals, making this partnership truly exciting for us.”

    Taboola CEO Adam Singolda said, “We are excited to partner with Sportskeeda, a widely respected and highly visited sports publisher all around the world. As their global footprint grows, we continue to provide the foundation on which they can deliver more personalized content recommendations to Sportskeeda readers, driving continuous engagement and returning audiences. Together, we will drive innovation, elevate reader engagement, unlock new avenues for revenue growth and more.”

    Taboola’s journey towards building new technologies helps various platforms from all domains to drive reader engagement and stimulate consumers’ interest by discovering the content of their choice.

    Learn more about Taboola’s recommendation platform and services here. 

  • Taboola strengthens its presence in India, onboards Kanika Mittal as country manager

    Taboola strengthens its presence in India, onboards Kanika Mittal as country manager

    Mumbai: Taboola, a global leader in powering recommendations for the open web, helping people discover things they may like, today announced continued growth for Taboola India. Taboola is a market leader in India with partnerships across major publishers in the country, including India Today group, NDTV, Zee Group, The Indian Express, ABP, and Network18. In September, Taboola India celebrates its monumental milestone of 10 years in the market, with a gala event in honor of key publishers and advertisers and strengthening of its leadership team.

    To spearhead and further accelerate Taboola India’s recent momentum, Taboola has appointed Kanika Mittal as the new country manager for Taboola India. With over 19 years of visionary leadership and a demonstrated history spanning digital, tech, e-commerce, retail, and consumer goods, Mittal brings a wealth of experience to her new position, marked by a proven track record to drive growth, and implement strategic initiatives in the digital landscape.

    Assuming her new role as country head for Taboola India, Mittal will shoulder the responsibility for our Indian operations, with a primary objective of propelling revenue growth and solidifying our cherished partnerships. Furthermore, Mittal will take a central role in nurturing and expanding Taboola’s publishing partnerships in India, actively contributing to their trajectory. Her multifaceted responsibilities extend to elevating brand, reputation and culture with a focus on growth to contribute to the organization’s overall success.

    As the former country head at Twitter, she drove revenue growth, cultivated a high-performance culture, and fostered cross-functional collaboration. Her notable achievement includes spearheading the ‘India 5X by 2025’ initiative, propelling India towards exponential revenue and audience growth. Previously, as country marketing director at Reebok (adidas group), she successfully repositioned the brand into a premium fitness label, championed an omni-channel, digital first approach, and pioneered a groundbreaking women’s-first movement with #FitToFight.

    Mittal advocates for purpose-driven brands, founded D.E.A.R. Indiya, curated The Enchanted Festival of Stories, and authored ‘The Adventures of Sugi & the Banshee’. which is now an Amazon Bestseller. She’s received accolades for digital, business and brand leadership, and she was actively involved in mentorship through organizations like the Marketing Society in India and the Vedica Scholars Program for Women.