Proxima, a leading AI-powered data intelligence software company focused on scaling profitable customer acquisition, today announced its membership in the Truthset Data Collective. This coalition of industry leaders is dedicated to driving the highest standards of data accuracy, reliability, and security across marketing channels.

The Truthset Data Collective offers an independent, agnostic platform that enables businesses to share and benchmark marketing data quality, providing a standardized approach to audience targeting and media measurement. By joining the collective, Proxima affirms its dedication to maintaining top-tier data validation for its unique dataset.

Founded in 2022, Proxima’s platform leverages the world’s largest direct-to-consumer (DTC) commerce graph, analyzing over $20 billion in eCommerce transactions and 64 million anonymized shopper profiles. This enables marketers to identify and convert high-value customers efficiently across digital advertising ecosystems.

“Brands and agencies are increasingly prioritizing retail and transaction data to improve marketing outcomes,” said Alex Song, CEO of Proxima. “Joining the Truthset Data Collective reinforces our commitment to delivering high-quality, trustworthy data intelligence that empowers marketers to reach new performance milestones.”

Scott McKinley, CEO of Truthset, added, “Proxima brings a unique data intelligence approach to the market. We’re excited to collaborate with them to enhance data accuracy standards industry-wide.”

This partnership also supports Proxima’s recent launch of deterministic DTC consumer segments for programmatic advertising, now accessible in data marketplaces of top DSPs like The Trade Desk and Yahoo. Advertisers and agencies can activate campaigns seamlessly with Proxima’s unmodeled, 100% deterministic segments to boost campaign precision and profitability.

Eko, the technology innovator transforming online product pages through interactive galleries, today announced the opening of a new 70,000 square foot “Capture Factory” in Bentonville, Arkansas. The facility will scale Eko’s core product capabilities and create 200 new jobs in Northwest Arkansas by the end of 2025, demonstrating the company’s commitment to revolutionizing how products are presented online.

Alongside the facility announcement, Eko appointed Ben Kaufman as President and Chief Commercial Officer. Kaufman brings a wealth of experience leading and scaling companies at the intersection of media, technology, and retail. Reporting directly to CEO Yoni Bloch, Kaufman will oversee the factory’s launch and operations while managing and growing Eko’s strategic partnership with Walmart.

The new Capture Factory will serve as a central hub to capture media and data for up to 750,000 consumer product items annually. Equipped with advanced capture stages, sensor arrays, and custom-built tools, the factory is designed to accelerate innovation in product presentation and enhance e-commerce experiences. Operations are expected to begin in June 2025.

“We’re leading the way in content innovation in e-commerce,” said Yoni Bloch, Eko’s Founder and CEO. “Now we’re expanding our capacity to serve more clients, move faster, and push the boundaries of what’s possible in the age of AI. This facility is an investment in our future and the talent that will help drive it. Ben’s experience building brands and his deep understanding of the retail landscape align perfectly with our mission to revolutionize how consumers interact with products online.”

Ben Kaufman’s career includes leadership roles at notable companies such as Mophie, Quirky, BuzzFeed (as CMO), and CAMP, a national retail chain focused on immersive family experiences that partnered with Eko from 2019-2021.

“The product page hasn’t changed in 30 years and e-commerce is at an inflection point,” Kaufman said. “Consumers are responding to richer, more engaging product experiences. I’m joining Eko at such a pivotal time in e-commerce. The impact their interactive gallery is having on client performance metrics is almost unbelievable. Here in Bentonville, we aspire not only to build interactive galleries but also to lay the groundwork for helping machines understand products in the same revolutionary way barcodes helped machines identify products years ago. This is a critical step towards the age of AI-powered commerce.”

This announcement comes as Eko deepens its partnership with Walmart, positioning the company for continued growth and expansion.

CCC, a leader in advancing copyright, accelerating knowledge, and powering innovation, is expanding its RightsLink Author Services to provide scholarly publishers with an automated, targeted way to trigger promotional offers and publication charges at key points across the publication lifecycle.

“Scholarly publishers are increasingly experimenting in response to changing market dynamics and shifting business models,” said Emily Sheahan, Vice President & Managing Director, CCC. “RightsLink Author Services aids publishers in these areas, supporting their goals of building relationships with their author community.”

CCC will showcase these new capabilities at the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) 47th Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, from May 28 to 30, 2025. Additionally, CCC will preview the beta version of Ringgold Researchers, a service designed to help scholarly publishers and service providers disambiguate and identify researchers, their affiliations, and their research-related connections.

Sessions Hosted by CCC at SSP 2025 Include:

• Education Session 4B: “Breaking the Silos: Using AI to Fuse Copyright Law, Academic Knowledge, and Commercial Innovation” on Friday, May 30, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EDT. Panelists include Roanie Levy (CCC), Diane Harnish (Delta Think), and Simone Taylor (American Psychiatric Association).

• Previews Session: “Trusted Researcher Identity: A New Path Forward with Ringgold Researchers” on Friday, May 30, 9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. EDT, Key Ballroom, featuring Jessica Thibodeau, Senior Director at CCC.

• Poster Session: “The Future of Society Publishing: Letting Data Tell the Story” on Thursday, May 29, 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m., Exhibitors Marketplace, presented by Casey Pickering, Director of Product Marketing, CCC.

CCC’s OA Intelligence software, which uses AI-enabled data disambiguation with agreement modeling and analysis, is a finalist for SSP’s 2025 EPIC Awards. The winners will be announced during the EPIC Awards Ceremony on May 29 at the Annual Meeting.

“The EPIC Awards celebrate the bold ideas and meaningful progress happening across our community,” said Melanie Dolechek, Executive Director of SSP. “We are inspired by this year’s nominees and look forward to spotlighting their incredible contributions.”

CCC continues to advocate for copyright worldwide through educational programming, thought leadership, and its online hub, AI, Copyright & Licensing, which provides resources for creators, publishers, rights holders, technologists, policymakers, and legal experts.

Since 1978, CCC has supported content users with efficient, harmonized licensing solutions such as ACL for Business, Multinational Copyright License (MCL), ACL for Higher Education, and others. CCC also offers streamlined access to request, receive, and pay for full-text content and permissions for reuse.

Amplitude, a leader in digital analytics, announced a preferred partnership with Twilio Segment to help businesses unify customer data, uncover behavioral insights, and deliver personalized digital experiences at scale.

The announcement was made during Twilio’s SIGNAL 2025 conference, where both companies confirmed that Amplitude teams will now recommend Twilio Segment as the preferred customer data platform (CDP), while Twilio will endorse Amplitude as the digital analytics platform of choice. As part of the collaboration, Amplitude introduced new ready-made dashboards that integrate seamlessly with Twilio Segment’s CDP.

“Many companies today rely on a patchwork of disconnected tools to understand and engage their users — often using separate platforms for data collection, analysis, and campaign execution,” said Nate Crook, Amplitude Chief Revenue Officer. “This fragmentation creates delays, data inconsistencies, and missed opportunities to drive engagement and growth. Our partnership with Twilio Segment aims to solve this challenge by providing a unified solution for our customers.”

Features of the Partnership Include:

• Five Pre-Built Dashboards: Covering Analytics, Session Replay, Experimentation, and Guides & Surveys, tailored for industries such as e-commerce, media, fintech, SaaS, and user engagement.

• Automatic Recognition of Segment Data: Dashboards highlight key trends like revenue growth, feature usage, and user drop-offs.

• Seamless Data Activation: Insights flow back into Segment to trigger personalized emails, campaigns, or other engagement actions, enabling teams to move from data to action efficiently.

• Cross-Functional Benefits: Marketing, product, engineering, and growth teams can leverage integrated data and analytics without bottlenecks.

Libby MacNeil, SVP of Worldwide Sales and GTM at Twilio, said, “Amplitude sets the bar for modern digital analytics. This co-sell agreement is a key growth lever for Twilio. By aligning our sales and go-to-market strategies, we create new opportunities to expand with joint customers. With these new dashboards, businesses can stop guessing and start delivering, fast.”

With over 335,000 active Twilio customer accounts worldwide, the partnership opens significant opportunities for Amplitude, especially among enterprises seeking to consolidate their data and analytics platforms.

“Today’s announcement marks a major step forward in our mission to help companies build better products and digital experiences,” Crook added. “By combining Segment’s unified data with Amplitude’s insights, experimentation, and activation tools, teams can accelerate the journey from analysis to action and drive measurable results.”

Rithum, a global leader in commerce solutions, released its 2025 Global Returns & Profit Impact Report, uncovering how return policies are increasingly influencing where and what consumers buy. The extensive study, surveying over 6,000 consumers across the U.S., Canada, U.K., France, and Germany, reveals the complex dynamics behind returns and offers insights for brands and retailers to turn this growing challenge into a profit opportunity.

Returns Are No Longer an Afterthought — They Shape Purchases

With 60% of global consumers returning products in the past year, returns have become an integral part of the online shopping experience. Notably, 36% of shoppers admit to overbuying with the intent to return, signaling a strategic shift in consumer behavior.

“Returns are no longer a post-purchase afterthought – they’re shaping buying decisions,” said Lou Keyes, CEO of Rithum. “Brands that treat returns as a critical business lever instead of a cost center will gain a significant competitive advantage.”

Insights from the 2025 Returns Report

Product Presentation Drives Post-Purchase Satisfaction

• 61% cite poor fit as the main return reason

• 33% returned products that didn’t match online descriptions or images

• 50% rely heavily on customer reviews for clothing and shoes purchases

Return Policies Influence Brand Loyalty

• 88% expect free returns as a standard offering

• 41% check return policies before buying

• 47% stopped shopping with retailers due to unfavorable return policies

Return Behavior Differs Regionally — Localization is Key

• Germans and French consumers favor shorter return windows (14 days or less) compared to North America

• Over 60% of fashion items are returned in parts of Europe, where shoppers often buy multiples intending to return some

• Electronics returns are high in Germany (54%) and the U.K. (51%), while beauty product returns dominate in North America

Fashion Sector Leads in Return Volume

• 68% of consumers returned clothing or footwear in the last year

• 36% engage in “bracketing” by buying multiples to try and return some

• Among shoppers under 35, 50% commonly overbuy with plans to return

Empowering Retailers to Turn Returns Into a Competitive Advantage

Suzin Wold, CMO of Rithum, explains, “Consumers want to trust that they’ll get what they paid for. When product content and return policies don’t match reality, it breaks trust and loyalty.”

Rithum’s solutions support retailers in:

• Ensuring accurate product listings

• Using AI-driven categorization

• Delivering SKU-level profitability insights

• Managing localized return policies

This helps brands proactively reduce returns’ margin impact while enhancing customer satisfaction.

Reputation, the global leader in reputation performance management, today announced a major evolution of its platform with advanced AI capabilities that deliver deeper, real-time insights into consumer sentiment from an expanded array of data channels.

A Breakthrough AI Engine Powers Unified Customer Intelligence

At the heart of this transformation is Reputation’s newly reengineered AI-native platform designed to unify fragmented data and convert vast volumes of customer feedback into precise, actionable intelligence. This AI-first architecture is built for flexibility, scalability, and rapid integration of emerging innovations—positioning brands to tackle today’s challenges and thrive in an increasingly data-driven future.

“We’ve spent the last two years preparing for the seismic shift AI is now bringing to every industry,” said Joe Burton, CEO of Reputation. “This next-gen engine, data lake, and processing hub transform how businesses manage their brands by automating workflows and delivering real-time sentiment insights.”

Expanded Data Sources Deliver a Fuller View of Customer Experience

Reputation’s rebuilt data architecture significantly expands its intelligence network to offer brands a more nuanced and comprehensive picture of consumer sentiment. The platform now integrates new high-value sources such as Yelp, which attracts 76 million monthly users seeking trusted reviews across industries like healthcare, retail, and food service.

By incorporating Yelp and other channels, brands gain richer access to customer experiences and feedback, enabling faster, more informed decisions that improve customer engagement and satisfaction.

AI at the Core of Future-Ready Reputation Management

“Most platforms are trying to retrofit AI into outdated systems,” noted Shantanu Sarkar, Chief Technology Officer at Reputation. “We rebuilt our foundation with clean data, intelligent tagging, and an architecture built for modern large language models and vector databases. To lead with AI, you need infrastructure that delivers real-time insights and scalable intelligence directly to decision-makers. Our new platform does exactly that.”

Looking ahead, Reputation plans to introduce predictive sentiment analysis, AI-powered competitive benchmarking, and a natural language interface—continuing to advance intelligent automation and empower brands in a fast-evolving digital landscape.

LiveRamp, the leading data collaboration partner, today announced it has been named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Data Clean Room Technology for Advertising and Marketing Use Cases 2025 Vendor Assessment.

Lynne Schneider, Research Director for Data Collaboration & Monetization at IDC, noted, “LiveRamp’s data clean room stands out for its extensive partner network, focus on identity resolution and connectivity, and commitment to interoperability across platforms. Its seamless integration with major cloud providers, standardized insights, and native activation capabilities position it as a leader in the data collaboration space.”

A Powerful Network and Interoperable Architecture

LiveRamp’s data clean room platform enables secure collaboration across first, second, and third-party data among brands, agencies, media owners, and data partners—all within privacy-compliant environments. The platform allows participants to connect, analyze, and activate data while maintaining full control, visibility, and governance.

Strengths highlighted by IDC include:

• Extensive partner network: Access to over 1,000 partners, including top publishers, retailers, platforms, and data providers

• Interoperable architecture: Integration with all major cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP, Databricks, Snowflake) for cross-cloud collaboration without data copying

• Native activation: Direct campaign activation with hundreds of partners straight from the clean room

Unlocking Value in a Complex Ecosystem

“We believe recognition as a Leader by IDC MarketScape for the second time underscores the value we deliver through clean room-powered data collaboration,” said Matt Karasick, Head of Product at LiveRamp. “Our scalable platform helps marketers and media owners unify fragmented data, generate insights, and execute campaigns across the platforms consumers use most. From matchmaking new partners to enhancing clean rooms with turnkey workflows, identity resolution, or activation, LiveRamp offers flexible solutions tailored to any company’s goals.”

SurveyMonkey, the world’s most popular platform for surveys and forms, today announced the launch of its newest office in Heredia, Costa Rica. Strategically located to serve customers across North and South America, the Heredia office is a key part of SurveyMonkey’s strategy to build a diverse global team and deepen its presence in Latin America.

The new office, located at Cariari Corporate Center within WeWork C3, currently houses 40 employees across customer operations, engineering, human resources, sales, and customer success. SurveyMonkey plans to expand the team by 30% by the end of 2025, focusing on hiring in customer success, operations, and marketing roles.

Designed to promote innovation and employee well-being, the modern workspace includes sustainable infrastructure, relaxation areas, meditation rooms, pet-friendly zones, an in-house barista, stocked pantries, and regular community events creating a collaborative and engaging environment.

SurveyMonkey is also committed to investing in the local community through a new chapter of its Diversity, Inclusion, and Impact Groups (DIIGs). The Costa Rica team will participate in volunteer initiatives, including the company’s global Week of Service honoring former CEO Dave Goldberg’s legacy. Employees will benefit from comprehensive training and professional development programs to help them grow their careers in tech.

With more than 19,000 paying customers across Latin America and 500 in Costa Rica, SurveyMonkey aims to capitalize on significant growth opportunities in the region. The platform supports over 56 languages, including Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese, making it well-suited for diverse markets.

This expansion adds to SurveyMonkey’s global footprint, which includes offices in San Mateo and Portland (U.S.), Ottawa (Canada), Dublin (Ireland), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Padua (Italy), and Bengaluru (India). With teams spanning North America, Europe, Asia, and now Latin America, SurveyMonkey is poised to meet the evolving needs of its global user base.

“SurveyMonkey’s expansion into Costa Rica is poised to support innovation and contribute to the local economy,” said Eric Johnson, CEO at SurveyMonkey. “Our on-the-ground team is already a standout group of leading minds who are enabling us to better build and sell our products locally, and in other communities worldwide. We’re just getting started in Latin America, and we see tremendous untapped growth potential ahead.”

Elias Conejo, Director of Engineering and Site Lead at the Heredia office, added, “We are steadfast in our commitment to helping users gather meaningful insights and embracing the Costa Rican spirit of Pura Vida. We’re focused on authenticity, balance, and genuine human connection to build strong cross-cultural bonds while driving innovation.”

The new Costa Rica hub represents more than regional growth—it embodies SurveyMonkey’s commitment to fostering global impact by empowering teams worldwide to make better decisions and deliver outstanding customer experiences.