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22 AdTech transitions in 2020

Companies acquired, rebranded, merged, or shut down in 2020.

The AdTech industry saw 22 major transitions in 2020, with acquisitions dominating the landscape at 13 deals, followed by 4 rebrands and 3 mergers. Notable shutdowns included DigiTrust and TopBuzz, while companies like BounceX, Cadreon, and Dentsu Aegis Network underwent rebranding. Segment.io emerged as the most connected entity in the sector with 273 connections.

Brandfolder
BrandfolderAcquired

Acquired by Smartsheet · 2020

A digital asset management platform that helps organizations centralize, organize, and distribute brand assets and creative content.

Dataguise
DataguiseAcquired

Acquired · 2020

Dataguise was a data security and privacy company specializing in sensitive data discovery, masking, and protection across enterprise enviro…

Emarsys
EmarsysAcquired

Acquired by SAP · 2020

Emarsys is an omnichannel customer engagement platform that enables personalized marketing automation across email, mobile, social, and web …

Empyr
EmpyrAcquired

Acquired by Coupons.com · 2020

Card-linked offer platform that enables brands to deliver personalized offers and measure in-store purchases through payment card data.

Engagio
EngagioAcquired

Acquired by Demandbase · 2020

Engagio was an account-based marketing (ABM) platform that helped B2B companies orchestrate and measure multi-channel engagement with target…

Eyereturn Marketing

Acquired · 2020

Eyereturn Marketing was a digital advertising technology company specializing in dynamic creative optimization and programmatic display adve…

Localytics
LocalyticsAcquired

Acquired · 2020

Localytics was a mobile engagement and analytics platform that helped brands understand user behavior and deliver personalized in-app experi…

Mailpoet
MailpoetAcquired

Acquired by Automattic · 2020

MailPoet is a WordPress-native email marketing plugin that enables businesses to create, send, and automate email campaigns directly from th…

PepperJam
PepperJamAcquired

Acquired by Partnerize · 2020

PepperJam is a performance-based affiliate marketing network and technology platform that connects advertisers with publishers to drive meas…

Segment.io
Segment.ioAcquired

Acquired by Twilio · 2020

Segment is a leading customer data platform (CDP) that collects, unifies, and routes customer data to hundreds of downstream tools — now ope…

Selligent
SelligentAcquired

Acquired by Zeta Global · 2020

Marketing automation and customer engagement platform that was acquired by CM Group (now Marigold) in 2019, specializing in omnichannel pers…

SmarterHQ
SmarterHQAcquired

Acquired by Wunderkind · 2020

SmarterHQ was a personalization and customer data platform that enabled brands to deliver individualized marketing experiences across channe…

V
Voca.aiAcquired

Acquired by Snap Inc. · 2020

Voice-AI startup acquired by Snap May 2020 for $70M.

BounceX
BounceXRebranded

Became Wunderkind · 2020

BounceX (now Wunderkind) is a behavioral marketing platform that identifies anonymous website visitors and delivers personalized, triggered …

C
CadreonRebranded

Became Matterkind · 2020

Cadreon was IPG Mediabrands' addressable advertising platform launched 2010.

Network operating from 2013 (post-Aegis acquisition) to 2020 when rebranded to Dentsu International.

Rubicon Project

Became Magnite · 2020

Rubicon Project was a leading programmatic advertising technology company that operated one of the largest independent sell-side platforms (…

G

Merged into WPP plc · 2020

Geometry Global was WPP's global brand activation and shopper marketing network, specializing in commerce, experiential, and promotional mar…

L
LetgoMerged

Merged into OfferUp · 2020

Letgo was a popular mobile classifieds marketplace for buying and selling secondhand goods locally, which merged with OfferUp in 2020 to for…

M

Merged into Tripledot Studios · 2020

Mobile gaming studio (Game of War, Mobile Strike, Final Fantasy XV).

DigiTrust
DigiTrustShut down

Shut down · 2020

DigiTrust was an IAB Tech Lab initiative that provided a standardized, privacy-focused user identity solution for digital advertising, aimin…

T
TopBuzzShut down

Shut down · 2020

English news-aggregator (overseas Toutiao).