Thomas brings extensive marketing technology expertise to Rebrandly and will help accelerate the company's strategic growth

Rebrandly, the world's leading secure, branded link management platform, announced today that Buffer Chief Product Officer Maria Thomas has joined the company as a member of the board of directors (BOD).

Thomas has extensive experience in marketing technology, strategic operations, and product-led growth. Her expertise encompasses product engineering, design, and management, with a deep focus on user experience and technical innovation at scale.

"I joined Rebrandly's board of directors because no company today is doing what Rebrandly does to enable businesses of any size, and the developer community, to create, manage, track, and share safe, branded short URLs," Thomas said. "This is important because we live in an era where audience or customer communications often miss the mark, may harbor ill intent, or are simply not engaging. Rebrandly solves this problem by empowering anyone to transform their shared links from possible liabilities into valuable assets."

Thomas is currently chief product officer at Buffer, a social media management software company for growing brands and connecting with customers. Before Buffer, Thomas served as vice president of product at Bitly, an early entrant to the link management space, and vice president of product management at CRM company Insightly. Earlier in her career, Thomas held senior roles at Intuit and Microsoft.

"Maria's technical leadership and expertise, combined with her intuitive understanding of the critical role that link management plays in the modern MarTech stack, will be highly additive as Rebrandly prepares for its next exponential growth phase," said Carla Bourque, Rebrandly CEO and BOD member. "Maria's data-driven and user-centric mindset is a great fit for Rebrandly, and together, we look forward to creating strategic value for our customers and partners."

The appointment of Thomas to Rebrandly's board of directors comes during a period of rapid innovation and growth for the company. Rebrandly has recently made several key announcements, including the launch of Rebrandly Core, the industry's first API-centric solution for high-volume links; a partnership with omnichannel automation platform MessageBird; and the launch of Rebrandly Marketplace, where developers can explore the Rebrandly application programming interface (API), create integrations with popular tools (Slack, Zapier, Google Chrome, and more), and access Rebrandly's partner network.

Identity verification and fraud prevention leader doubles its goal as the company reports the highest rates of synthetic fraud were seen within the gig economy, small business banking, telecom, cryptocurrency and challenger banks

Socure, the leading provider of artificial intelligence for digital identity verification, sanction screening, and fraud prevention, today announced that it has eliminated 204,536 synthetic identities from the U.S. economy in 2023 to date. The company's Sigma Synthetic Fraud solution has prevented more than $3 billion in fraud losses this year while doubling the company's initial 100,000 commitment signifying just how omnipresent the problem has become.

Synthetic identity fraud combines stolen, manipulated and fabricated attributes, such as name, address, phone, date of birth, and Social Security number, to assemble an entirely new and fictitious identity to defraud financial institutions, fintechs, government agencies, and other enterprises. The Deloitte Center for Financial Services projects synthetic identity fraud to generate at least $23 billion in losses in the U.S. by 2030.

Bad actors use synthetic identities to apply for loans, open multiple accounts, build up a positive credit score and steal government benefits, appearing to be good customers until cashing in by using up all available credit lines and disappearing. They're also used for money laundering through prepaid cards, gift cards and traditional bank accounts as "money mules" by transnational organized crime rings, moving illegally acquired funds while making tracing nearly impossible.

"Socure's pledge to eliminate 100,000 synthetic identities in 2023 was noble, but also ambitious," said Julie Conroy, Chief Insights Officer at Datos Insights. "Achieving twice as many is a profound warning sign that this type of fraud is even more widespread than we had initially believed. Synthetic identities are everywhere and extremely difficult to detect, and the faster the industry acts the better chances we'll have of weeding them out while avoiding monumental costs to the financial services ecosystem."

While the company rooted out synthetic identities from nearly 40 different industries, an overwhelming majority were found in the gig economy, small business banking, telecom, cryptocurrency and challenger banks.

"The Socure mission is to deliver the world's most accurate and inclusive risk and identity verification solutions. Eradicating synthetic identity fraud is a key part of why we exist," said Johnny Ayers, founder and CEO of Socure. "These crimes not only drive billions of dollars in losses across the economy, but also contribute to unfathomable financial crimes including money laundering schemes used for human trafficking and illegal drug operations. While identifying malicious synthetic identity behavior has become more complex than ever before as consumers continue to grow their digital footprints, this year's achievement is proof that our approach is working."

Socure's Sigma Synthetic V4 is the industry's most accurate synthetic fraud solution, using advanced machine learning and diverse third-party and network feedback data to uncover anomalies and connect elaborate behavioral patterns linked to synthetic identity fraud. This leads to detection before the fraudster can act nefariously within the financial ecosystem. The company's newest model draws from diverse "Proof of Life" data sources including property records, driver's licenses, and educational data adding a new dimension of accuracy so organizations can confidently verify younger and immigrant demographics with a limited digital footprint.

DoubleVerify, a leading software platform for digital media measurement, data and analytics, today announced the appointment of Gary Swidler to its board of directors. Swidler will be a member of the Audit Committee.

“We’re excited to have Gary join the DoubleVerify board,” said Mark Zagorski, CEO, DoubleVerify. “His extensive finance, strategy and corporate development experience, along with a proven track record of leadership in the digital media space, make him a significant addition. His insights and guidance will help us continue to grow our leadership position and drive our global expansion plans.”

Swidler is currently the President and CFO at Match Group, Inc., managing finance, accounting, tax, treasury, strategy, corporate development, investor relations, corporate communications and ad sales. Since joining Match Group in 2015, he has held various key roles, including COO and CFO, before being appointed President and CFO in January 2023.

"I am honored and excited to join DoubleVerify's board," said Gary Swidler. "The company is on a clearly defined path to propel the digital advertising industry forward with transparency and integrity. I look forward to contributing to the team’s incredible success in this dynamic industry.”

Prior to Match Group, Swidler spent 18 years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in investment banking, and began his career at the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York City.

Swidler will officially join the board effective February 20, 2024.

First Party Data Solution Increases CPMs for Publishers by 26% and Lowers CPCs for Advertisers by 33%
Direct Publisher Relationships Result in 72% of Ad Spend to Direct Supply

As 2023 draws to a close, TripleLift, the ad tech platform elevating digital advertising across every screen, wraps a 2023-year marked by innovation, strategic partnerships, and a commitment to economic inclusion and sustainability. With the launch of first-party data solution TripleLift Audiences, along with partnerships that bolster the offering, the ad tech platform made significant leaps in demonstrating effectiveness and delivering results for advertisers and publishers.

Bolstering Expertise
Amazon Ads veteran Ed Dinichert joined this year as Chief Revenue Officer to lead the 200+ person global team, oversee customer success, and help retail media networks expand their platform offerings. Adolfo Villagomez and Tony Wells also joined as independent board directors. Both have worked for decades at leading brands, including Verizon and The Home Depot. Their additions further TripleLift's ability to deliver in the retail media and data addressability spaces.

Superior Audiences: The First-Party Data Solution
The launch of TripleLift Audiences (TLA) in 2023 is more than a technological advancement; it's a paradigm shift in how advertisers and publishers understand the power of first-party data. September marked the release of the industry's first-ever large-scale test results showing that its recently launched targeting solution is effective across the web, including in cookie-constrained environments. With 28,600 domains already available, TLA has delivered a remarkable CPM increase of 26% for publishers and a 33% lower cost-per-click (CPC) for advertisers.

TripleLift's commitment to solving cookie depreciation with first-party data extends beyond mere numbers; it's about empowering partners with insights that fuel success.

Premium Quality: Direct Publishers Inventory
TripleLift's pursuit of effectiveness in 2023 led to the onboarding of more than 200 new direct publisher partners in open web and CTV, a number that belies the quality and influence these partnerships bring to the advertising ecosystem. Including Plex, these online and CTV, solidify TripleLift's reputation as the go-to platform for premium content.

TripleLift's supply chain health is a testament to the company's long-standing network curation, validated by Jounce's findings of 98% coverage, 97% authorization in ads.txt and app-ads.txt, and 99% listing in sellers.json. With 72% of ad spend going to direct supply, dedication to ensuring a clean, transparent and trustworthy supply chain is paramount. TripleLift works with 80%+ of comScore 200 Ad-Supported Publishers and delivers 2 trillion+ monthly global impressions across North America, EMEA, LATAM, APAC, and MENA.

Effective Advertising: Powerful Creative Tech
Investment in formats in 2023 represents more than a financial commitment—it's a pledge to redefine the creative landscape. In-feed, integrated ads, and branded video formats are not just advertisements; they are experiences carefully crafted to captivate audiences. Advertiser data underscores the efficacy and demonstrates statistically significant increases in revenue and CPMs for publishers.

Native advertising, as exemplified in Hearst and CafeMedia case studies, remains as a potent force in the industry, outperforming display, social, and competitors. The statistics tell a compelling story—42% more likely to capture consumer attention than banners, a 100% revenue boost for Hearst, and a 41% revenue surge for CafeMedia.

In CTV, TripleLift has not just entered the arena; they have become the game-changer. Partnerships with premium publishers like Samsung, DIRECTV, and Plex TV underscore the trust placed in TripleLift. With a 70% average increase in CTV premium publisher revenue YoY, Live Sports Lookbook, and an extensive library of 30+ packages, they are not just keeping pace but setting the tempo. The Adelaide partnership, launched in 2023, has elevated offerings and actively contributed to industry benchmarks. TripleLift inventory consistently outperformed Adelaide's CTV benchmarks by 8%, a testament to the quality of TripleLift placements and the strength of this partnership.

Sustainability: Scope 3 Commitment
TripleLift announced in April a commitment to Scope 1 and 2, and Scope 3 reductions to lower each by more than 50% by 2030. has always been at the forefront of some of the world's most significant issues and is dedicated to going green and lowering emissions on a global scale. The company has fully committed to reducing absolute scopes 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 51.33% by 2030. Additionally, TripleLift commits to reducing Scope 3 GHG emissions related to air, hotel, and car travel by 55% per full-time team member by 2030. Both are science-based target (SBTI) reduction goals and are 1.5ºC aligned.

TripleLift also partnered with Patch, the platform scaling unified climate action, to offset carbon emissions by investing in the Clearloop Panola County Solar Project, a female and minority-led supplier. These internal efforts added to the client initiative, the GREEN Exchange Traded Deal, which gives advertisers another way to use their dollars to keep the planet green.

Intentional Investment: Increasing Economic Inclusion & Sustainability
Onboarding 5,838 UNREP sites (Underrepresented Publishers) in 2023 is not just about numbers but driving economic inclusion. TripleLift initiatives have influenced $90M in ad spend, driving change across over 90 accounts. Corporate Social Responsibility is not just a checkbox; it's a commitment. TripleLift's vast inventory of publishers gives advertisers access to 220 Billion monthly impression avails across diverse-owned sites. These packages include inventory among publishers owned by Women, LGBTQ+, Blacks, Latinx, and Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI).

As TripleLift wraps up an exceptional 2023, the journey doesn't end here; it evolves. Every partnership, initiative, and innovation is not just a step forward; it's a statement of intent to push boundaries, foster connections, and redefine the future of advertising.

Launching with an In-Depth Report on Marketing Attribution, Banzai’s New Hub Offers Data and Insights from Real-World Marketing Leaders

Banzai International, Inc. , a leading marketing technology company that provides essential marketing and sales solutions, today announced the launch of its Research Hub which is set to provide an accessible platform to marketers at every level looking for insights from top marketing, advertising, and SaaS executives. 

In a market where marketing budgets have been slashed, but the requirement for proving marketing investment remains high, data remains a cornerstone for executing effective marketing strategies. Unfortunately, much of today’s highest quality marketing benchmarks and insights remain inaccessible to the majority of marketing teams who most need them. Banzai’s Research Hub aims to solve that challenge by providing free, easy to understand, relevant benchmark data across a variety of industries, company sizes, and business objectives. Emboldened with data-driven insights, marketers can then make better informed decisions on their marketing campaigns and strategies.

"Our mission at Banzai is to help our customers accomplish their mission. A big part of that is helping them make better marketing decisions. By launching the Banzai Research Hub, our aim is to provide access to the cutting-edge marketing data and insights we have been collecting for years, empowering marketers across the industry to make informed, data-driven decisions," said Joe Davy, CEO and Chairman of Banzai. "Our inaugural report on marketing attribution trends is just the beginning. We're committed to continuously providing valuable, actionable insights that not only reflect the current marketing landscape but also guide marketers in shaping future strategies that align with their organizational goals and respond to evolving market demands."

Banzai also launched its first report, providing detailed data on key marketing attribution trends. The report surveyed marketing professionals and revealed significant insights into the current state of marketing attribution. The study highlights a broad adoption of attribution models, however, data shows that 20% of respondents are still not using them, despite their effectiveness in strategic decision-making and enhancing C-Suite confidence in marketing.

The report also reveals the hidden benefits of attribution, such as improved visibility into customer journeys and sales cycle insights, but notes challenges like attribution model bias and tracking complexities. For marketing professionals, the findings underscore the importance of aligning attribution models with organizational goals and the ongoing need to navigate the complexities of marketing attribution in a data-rich environment.

By leveraging Maileroo's robust insights, businesses can quickly and effectively tailor their email communications to consumer preferences

Effective communication is at the heart of any successful business. Brands that can quickly get a pulse on consumer desires and needs and implement strategies to meet them often beat out the competition in gaining consumer trust and turning prospects into brand loyalists. With these goals in mind, Maileroo, a leading-edge transactional email delivery platform, has launched its revolutionary platform that makes timely and reliable email communication easier for brands sending transactional emails, thus improving customer satisfaction and brand perceptions.

One of today's most effective forms of business-to-consumer communication is email. And when brands spend millions of dollars annually on email campaigns, they want to know if those marketing efforts are effective. But once an email is sent, it can be difficult to know if it has reached its destination quickly--or at all.

Maileroo seeks to solve many challenges businesses face with transactional email campaigns with its tech-forward email solution. When it comes to transactional emails, such as sales confirmations or password resets, consumers expect fast communication. Maileroo's industry-disrupting technology ensures not only that emails get to their destination through an intuitive email verification process but also that they get there blazingly fast surpassing consumer expectations.

In addition to faster email delivery times, Maileroo's solution also has real-time tracking capabilities so businesses know the immediate impact of their campaigns and can troubleshoot quickly in the event of any issues. Using real-time data, businesses can respond quickly and make changes to their campaigns to ensure they are more effective and in tune with consumer needs.

Maileroo is designed for businesses of all sizes, empowering them to improve their transactional email campaigns. The robust email solution is also powerful enough to handle high-volume campaigns with dedicated IP options to enhance email-sending capabilities. And with Maileroo's simple setup process, solopreneurs or large corporations can easily integrate Maileroo's SMTP Service or HTTP Email API into their existing systems without needing highly trained IT specialists.

"Transactional email marketing is an essential part of any brand's growth as they seek to engage with audiences and drive one-to-one communication experiences," said Areeb Majeed, Maileroo CEO. "And with today's consumers expecting quick, personalized email experiences, even in transactional emails, it's essential to measure the effectiveness of those campaigns. Maileroo's leading-edge email solution drives better transactional campaigns with lightning-fast delivery speed, email verification for cleaner mailing lists, and robust analytics that help businesses make smarter decisions and maximize their email marketing dollars. And with multiple pricing tiers based on email volume, there's an affordable solution for businesses of every size."

New Enlighten AI innovation, Microsoft Azure availability, and Next-Gen WFM Forecasting help CXone customers increase productivity without adding complexity

NICE today announced the launch of the 2023 CXone Fall Release, expanding AI and automation and increasing openness across the CXone platform. CXone is the industry’s leading interaction centric platform, enabling organizations to effectively manage all interactions - attended and unattended. As organizations look to infuse AI and automation throughout their CX operations, this release further enhances NICE’s leadership gap with unique capabilities that allow organizations to succeed and compete in the digital era.

Creating a full CX AI platform

With major enhancements to Enlighten AI Routing and Enlighten AutoSummary, CXone now offers fully automated AutoSummary capabilities that are fully native and support voice and digital interactions utilizing generative AI to automate objective summaries for every customer interaction. CXone AutoSummary combines Enlighten’s industry-specific CX AI models with LLMs to help CX organizations save time and cost and improve agent performance. Additionally, with this release, organizations can create best-in-class CX, connecting consumers with agents based on sentiment and with extreme personalization.

Expanded cloud options enhance cloud storage and implementation

With this release, NICE is delivering expanded cloud storage vendor options. In addition to the AWS storage option, CXone now has a storage option with Microsoft Azure, strengthening NICE’s integration with Microsoft, giving customers full flexibility, allowing organizations to easily integrate CXone into their CX operations on their choice of public cloud. NICE has also announced CXone applications’ unique ability to work with any ACD, on-premises or in the cloud. This new strategic capability is designed to meet the unique needs of brands transitioning to cloud-based operations, allowing organizations to seamlessly integrate their existing ACD systems with CXone applications and shift to the cloud at their own pace. With this latest offering, CXone is the industry's leading AI-fueled CX platform capable of seamlessly integrating with multiple ACDs.

Advanced Digital Interactions Management with True To Interval (TTI)

NICE continues to innovate and maintain leadership as we bring workforce engagement management (WEM) to the Digital era. NICE’s new True to Interval (TTI) enables organizations to consider the unique challenges of digital channels, revolutionizing forecasting and planning. TTI accurately forecasts and schedules among the complex demands of the digital landscape, taking into account asynchronous, periodic interactions. NICE is the leading WEM provider that offers this level of accuracy. The new CXone dashboard improves visibility and ease of use, breaking down complex data into clear and digestible business insights.

Barry Cooper, President, CX Division, NICE, said, “AI is creating a ripple effect driving organizations to create full convergence of CX assets. As organizations adopt AI, they realize that the only way to do it is with an all-encompassing interaction centric platform. With the new fall release, CXone is now the only platform that can serve as the foundation for any organization’s CX AI strategy.”

“Every CX-oriented enterprise recognizes the need to incorporate AI in their customer and agent workflows for more personalized interactions and task completion,” said Derek Top, Research Director and Senior Analyst with Opus Research. “The latest CXone release allows them to modernize their CX infrastructure and augment their service offerings. This is one of the reasons that NICE and CXone rated highly in Opus Research’s competitive analyses.”

20+ Year Tech Marketing Veteran to Help Drive Company Through Next Phase of Growth

Extreme Networks™, Inc. today announced that Monica Kumar has been appointed as the company’s new Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Kumar brings extensive B2B marketing experience with a history of accelerating growth through compelling product differentiation and impactful, revenue generating go-to-market strategies. Kumar will lead the company’s global marketing organization and report to Extreme’s President and CEO, Ed Meyercord.

Kumar has deep industry and technical knowledge of enterprise cloud computing and a proven track record of simplifying complex product and solution portfolios. As CMO, she’ll work to continue elevating Extreme’s brand and value proposition through unique and engaging go-to-market motions, and further expanding routes to market through strategic partnerships.

“Monica is a perfect combination of a technical and business savvy marketing leader with a talent for driving impactful initiatives that boost customer acquisition and revenue growth,” said Ed Meyercord, President and CEO of Extreme. “Extreme has a highly differentiated set of solutions; we’ve shaken up the status quo of the networking industry, and we’re taking share. Monica’s track record of transforming hardware businesses to highly successful SaaS businesses that drive recurring revenue will be instrumental as we continue to extend our leadership position in cloud networking.”

Prior to Extreme, Kumar served as CMO at Hitachi Vantara, where she successfully drove a product simplification strategy that brought the company’s portfolio of data storage products together into one easy-to-consume, scalable, and resilient platform. Additionally, she was instrumental in launching Hitachi’s new brand strategy and narrative which helped drive awareness, customer acquisition, and long-term growth.

Previously, she served as SVP of Marketing and Cloud go-to-market at Nutanix and spent more than 20 years at Oracle in a variety of marketing roles. At both Nutanix and Oracle, Kumar was instrumental in evolving both organizations from traditional hardware companies to thriving software subscription businesses. Kumar is an active board member for UPWARD Women and City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley, and a founding member of Neythri Futures Fund, a historic first fund with a mission to increase the diversity quotient in the venture capital ecosystem.

Monica Kumar, CMO at Extreme, said, “Extreme has made its mark in the industry by reducing complexity and creating an innovative, flexible, and simple approach for customers to deploy and manage their networks through the cloud. I’m thrilled to join at a time where we have a significant opportunity to further elevate our story, our brand and market leadership position – and it starts with customer-centricity and a vibrant partner ecosystem. I am looking forward to making an impact as part of Extreme’s incredible customer, partner, and people-centric leadership team.”