Edge226 Snaps Up Adscend Media to Power Rewarded Ads at Scale

Edge226 is beefing up its performance marketing arsenal. The mobile-first ad tech platform has acquired Adscend Media, a seasoned player in rewarded advertising, best known for its high-performing Offerwall format. The move signals a strategic expansion into deeper cross-channel engagement for mobile apps, games, and now, reward-focused campaigns across in-app and connected TV (CTV).

For Edge226, this isn’t just a trophy acquisition—it’s a foundational upgrade. By bringing Adscend Media’s rewarded ad inventory and publisher partnerships into the fold, Edge226 becomes a one-stop platform for mobile-first brands seeking measurable user acquisition across in-app, CTV, and reward-based channels.

“Their rewarded advertising expertise complements our existing capabilities,” said Avishay Raviv, Co-CEO of Edge226. “This gives clients a powerful new channel for user acquisition and engagement.”

What’s the Big Deal? Offerwalls Evolved

Offerwalls, the bread and butter of Adscend’s monetization engine, have been around for a while. But they’ve evolved far beyond the "watch-a-video, get-a-coin" model. Today’s Offerwalls optimize for high-intent user actions beyond installs, such as account signups or financial transactions. This model incentivizes deeper engagement—and advertisers are seeing the return.

For performance marketers and developers of mobile games or fintech apps, that translates to more engaged users at lower acquisition costs—and stronger lifetime value (LTV). With Edge226 already delivering ROI-focused campaigns on mobile and CTV, the addition of rewarded ads completes a trifecta of high-performance channels.

“We’re excited to expand Adscend’s success into new verticals and geographies,” said Yoav Kirmayer, Co-CEO at Edge226.

Why This Matters for the Industry

Performance advertising is shifting toward outcome-based models. As privacy regulations throttle user-level targeting, rewarded ads are increasingly seen as a privacy-safe, opt-in format that delivers real value to both users and advertisers.

Adscend Media’s legacy (founded in 2009) and proven results with gaming and financial app advertisers give Edge226 instant credibility in the reward space—while its global reach and programmatic tech stack position the combined company to scale fast.

“We’re proud of what we’ve built,” said Fehzan Ali, Co-Founder at Adscend Media. “Edge226’s innovation and reach will accelerate our growth and unlock new value for our partners.”

With this acquisition, Edge226 isn’t just adding a new channel—it’s redefining what cross-channel, ROI-driven marketing can look like. Marketers can now run unified campaigns across in-app, CTV, and rewarded formats, managed on a single platform with clear outcomes and simplified optimization.

In an industry obsessed with results, this kind of convergence is exactly what performance advertisers are looking for.

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Bonsai Raises $1.8M to Help Brands Ditch Bad Marketing Data for Good

Bonsai, a first-party marketing intelligence platform promising clarity amid digital chaos, has secured a $1.8 million funding round to ramp up its go-to-market strategy and further build out its platform. The investment comes from a blend of institutional backers including Mairs & Power Venture Capital, TAWANI Ventures, Bridge Venture Fund, and Chicago Early, plus several angel investors like Daren Cotter and Sheetal Jain.

The Minneapolis-based startup is tackling a critical pain point for consumer brands: misleading or biased conversion data that derails growth strategies and leads to wasteful ad spend. As marketing becomes more fragmented—and privacy crackdowns chip away at cookie-based tracking—Bonsai offers a streamlined way forward, leveraging first-party data only to drive what it calls "automated profitable growth."

“Brands waste billions because they rely on inaccurate, biased data,” said Matt Butler, CEO and co-founder of Bonsai. “We give them extreme clarity to focus only on what drives ROI.”

Goodbye Cookies, Hello Clarity

Bonsai’s pitch is refreshingly pragmatic: It lets brands ingest and analyze all their marketing data without needing engineers, custom pixels, or cookie tracking. With over 80 integrations across martech and adtech platforms, onboarding takes minutes—not months.

Once connected, Bonsai pulls together a full-stack view of performance using:

• Multi-touch attribution

• Marketing mix modeling

• Incrementality testing

• Automated budget forecasting

• Audience analytics

• Automated buying algorithms

The platform effectively acts as an AI-enabled control tower—analyzing what’s working, predicting what’s next, and even automating media spend based on first-party insights. All of this happens without invading user privacy, making it a strong play for brands wary of data compliance risks.

“It’s changed how we measure impact and optimize strategy,” said Ariana Diaz, Senior Director of Marketing at JSX, a Bonsai customer. “We now make every investment count.”

Why This Matters

First-party data is quickly becoming the backbone of modern marketing. With Google phasing out third-party cookies and platforms tightening up on data sharing, the brands that own their data and know how to use it will be the ones left standing. Bonsai positions itself as the all-in-one solution for this post-cookie era, removing the guesswork and inefficiencies that plague most marketing teams today.

Bonsai’s growing client list—featuring brands like 1-800-Flowers, Aspen Dental, Camping World, JSX, and Gabb Wireless—is a testament to its traction in sectors where ROI clarity is crucial.

With this new round of funding, Bonsai plans to double down on go-to-market and deepen its tech stack to make its intelligence platform even more accessible to consumer brands that are sick of shooting in the dark.

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CDP Market to Soar to $37B by 2030 as Real-Time Data and Web Insights Drive Adoption

The Customer Data Platform (CDP) market is on track to explode in the next five years, surging from $9.72 billion in 2025 to a staggering $37.11 billion by 2030, according to a new report from MarketsandMarkets™. This projected CAGR of 30.7% underscores how crucial unified customer insights and real-time personalization have become for competitive digital marketing.

As consumer behavior splinters across touchpoints—and privacy restrictions limit third-party data—businesses are increasingly turning to CDPs to unify first-party data, optimize omnichannel engagement, and make smarter, faster marketing decisions.

“The growing demand for real-time, personalized customer engagement and AI-driven insights is redefining how brands think about data,” the report notes.

Web Data Takes the Lead

By data channel, the web segment is expected to dominate, thanks to the massive volume of interactions happening through websites—browsing behavior, clickstream data, and form submissions. As e-commerce continues to surge, brands are relying heavily on web data to power user profiles and content personalization.

The scalability and accessibility of web data—especially compared to mobile app or offline sources—makes it the go-to foundation for most CDPs.

Real-Time Activation Is the Fastest Growing Use Case

CDPs are no longer just glorified databases. The data activation and real-time execution segment is set to experience the highest growth rate, reflecting marketers’ shift from reactive reporting to proactive engagement.

Features like real-time recommendations, targeted messaging, and dynamic content delivery are no longer “nice to have”—they’re table stakes. And CDPs with real-time engines are emerging as the connective tissue between customer intent and conversion.

North America Leads the Pack

Unsurprisingly, North America is projected to retain the largest market share, thanks to a concentration of mature enterprises, robust digital infrastructure, and early adoption of martech innovations. The region’s mix of regulatory compliance, high-volume personalization, and aggressive AI investment makes it the global epicenter for CDP deployment.

Competitive Landscape: The Usual Giants and Rising Contenders

The CDP space remains a battleground for martech giants and specialized players alike. Top vendors include:

• Oracle, Salesforce, Adobe, and SAP — all leveraging their enterprise ecosystems

• Twilio and Microsoft — pushing deeper into real-time engagement and AI integration

• Tealium, Leadspace, and CaliberMind — focusing on data agility and audience analytics

• Nice, Dun & Bradstreet, and Cloudera — offering enriched datasets and B2B intelligence

While the core value of a CDP—unifying fragmented data into a single customer view—remains constant, vendors are differentiating through speed, intelligence, and integration depth with AI/ML capabilities.

CDPs Are Becoming the Operating System of Marketing

What CRM was to the 2000s and DMPs were to the early 2010s, CDPs are now the backbone of modern, privacy-forward marketing. With third-party cookies crumbling and consumer expectations rising, the ability to activate data in real time, across channels, and within regulatory guardrails is defining market winners.

Expect more innovation around AI-generated insights, predictive segmentation, and composable CDPs—solutions that let brands tailor the tech stack without being locked into rigid ecosystems.

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Pave Taps Google Cloud Marketplace to Expand Access to AI-Driven Compensation Intelligence

Pave, the compensation intelligence platform trusted by companies like Atlassian, Block, and Databricks, is now available on Google Cloud Marketplace, marking a new phase in the company’s mission to redefine how organizations manage pay strategy through artificial intelligence.

Already fully hosted on Google Cloud infrastructure, Pave is now easier than ever for enterprise users to deploy—especially those with existing Google Cloud agreements. The move enables streamlined procurement, consolidated billing, and the ability to apply existing cloud spend toward Pave subscriptions, a win for IT and finance teams alike.

“We’ve built our platform on Google’s most advanced AI products because we believe in partnering with the best,” said Matthew Schulman, CEO of Pave. “This launch lets us scale our reach and impact at a critical time for organizations needing intelligent compensation solutions.”

A Platform Built for Precision Pay Decisions

At its core, Pave’s platform combines real-time benchmarking with workflow tools powered by machine learning, helping companies manage base salary, equity awards, and total rewards strategy from a single interface. It's designed not just to help HR teams keep pace with market trends, but to lead compensation strategy with data clarity and automation.

Running on Google Cloud’s Vertex AI and leveraging Gemini models for search and data insights, Pave enables:

• Real-time salary and equity benchmarks from over 8,000 companies

• Seamless compensation planning workflows

• AI-enhanced insights for retention and competitiveness

• Transparency tools to communicate pay and rewards to employees

Currently, more than $190 billion in compensation is managed through Pave’s platform, spanning industries from tech and life sciences to retail and financial services.

“Bringing Pave to Google Cloud Marketplace will help customers quickly deploy and manage the platform on Google Cloud’s trusted, global infrastructure,” said Dai Vu, Managing Director at Google Cloud.

From Infrastructure to Insight

Beyond the Marketplace listing, this expanded collaboration reflects a deeper integration of Pave’s AI capabilities within Google’s ecosystem. For example, Pave’s Data Lab, its newly launched insights hub, uses daily AI-powered signals to surface real-time trends in pay equity, market volatility, and compensation design—tools designed for today’s dynamic and often opaque labor market.

Looking ahead, Pave and Google Cloud are exploring more advanced use cases in predictive modeling, intelligent automation, and compensation analytics at scale, aiming to turn what’s traditionally been a reactive process into a proactive business advantage.

As talent markets evolve and compensation becomes a strategic differentiator, companies need tools that go beyond spreadsheets and stale benchmarks. Pave’s presence on Google Cloud Marketplace means enterprise leaders can now access AI-driven compensation intelligence on-demand, embedded directly within their cloud environment—a serious upgrade for anyone managing people and performance in real time.

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Actabl Debuts HotelData.com to Give Hoteliers a Data-Driven Edge in 2025 Planning

Actabl, the hospitality software company known for turning hotel performance data into actionable insights, has launched a new free tool for the industry: HotelData.com. The platform promises to bring transparency and intelligence to hotel budgeting, offering access to real-world performance benchmarks and planning resources rooted in actual data—not guesswork.

At a time when hotel owners and operators are navigating economic headwinds, labor cost inflation, and shifting demand trends, HotelData.com aims to fill a critical gap: a centralized hub for objective, up-to-date operational and financial data drawn from thousands of U.S. hotels.

“HotelData.com’s mission is to empower the people who power hospitality by making data both accessible and actionable,” said Sarah McCay Tams, Head of Editorial at Actabl.

A New Benchmark for Budgeting

The site’s inaugural resource, the 2025–2026 Budget Planning Guide, drills deep into key performance metrics such as labor cost per occupied room (CPOR), RevPAR, ADR, and GOP margins. The guide compares budgeted expectations with actual performance from the first half of 2025 and includes forecasts and strategic advice for H2 2025 and into 2026.

Key Takeaways from H1 2025:

• Labor Costs:

  • CPOR varied widely by property type:

    • Extended Stay: $26.29

    • Resorts: $123.60

  • Overall labor costs rose 6.6% YoY, driven by wage pressures.

• Revenue Performance:

  • RevPAR came in below budget:

    • Actual: $105.12

    • Budgeted: $123.89

  • ADR held steady:

    • Actual: $186.14

    • Budgeted: $191.35

• Profit Margins:

  • Despite softer revenue, hotels controlled expenses:

    • GOP Margin H1 2025: 37.7%

    • Forecasted H2 2025: 39.3%

The upshot? Pricing remained disciplined even amid underperformance, and many properties maintained profitability by managing labor and operational costs tightly.

“Hoteliers often rely on outdated benchmarks or internal guesswork,” said Tams. “With HotelData.com, they can validate decisions with real-time, market-based data.”

A Living Resource for a Changing Industry

What sets HotelData.com apart isn’t just the free access—it’s the ongoing updates. The platform will continuously deliver new reports, trend analysis, and operational benchmarks, empowering hotels to stay nimble as conditions evolve.

From labor efficiency to profit optimization, the site is poised to become an essential companion for anyone managing hotel operations, from revenue managers to investors.

And it’s all powered by Actabl’s proprietary platform, which pulls from its financial and operational tools used across the U.S. hotel ecosystem—giving users insights backed by a massive data pool, not limited sample sets.

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AtData Snags 2025 Sammy Award for Pioneering Email-First Intelligence in Marketing and Security

AtData, a leader in email address intelligence and digital trust, has been named Email Market Master in the 2025 Sammy – Sales and Marketing Awards, presented by the Business Intelligence Group. The recognition highlights AtData’s role in transforming one of marketing’s most underutilized assets—the email address—into a real-time, privacy-safe engine for identity resolution, fraud prevention, and engagement optimization.

“This award validates our belief that the email address isn’t just a communication tool—it’s the connective tissue for modern digital engagement,” said Tom Burke, CEO of AtData.

From Static Identifier to Strategic Advantage

While most companies still treat email addresses as simple identifiers or contact records, AtData flips that script. With what it claims is the largest proprietary email data network in the world, the company turns emails into live intelligence assets. These data points fuel:

• Sales and marketing personalization

• Fraud detection and prevention

• Identity resolution across channels

• Privacy-compliant audience insights

The goal? Equip brands with a single, persistent, privacy-first identifier that’s accurate, actionable, and scalable—no matter how fragmented the digital landscape becomes.

This approach is gaining traction across industries that rely heavily on digital engagement, such as ecommerce, fintech, and B2B tech, where trust, accuracy, and real-time decision-making are table stakes.

Why It Matters

The Sammy Awards recognize companies aligning sales and marketing around business impact. AtData’s email-first model doesn’t just streamline operations—it provides a clear path from raw data to revenue, a challenge many go-to-market teams still struggle to solve.

“Sales and marketing are now operating as one,” said Russ Fordyce, CEO of the Business Intelligence Group. “AtData’s unified approach to identity, intelligence, and engagement shows what that looks like in action.”

A Signal of Things to Come

With third-party cookies fading and privacy regulations tightening, first-party data strategies are now mission-critical. AtData’s award win signals a broader shift: email—one of the oldest digital identifiers—is having a renaissance as a stable, consent-driven anchor point for data strategies.

Whether it’s resolving identities across devices, spotting fraudulent behaviors, or enhancing personalization, email is proving itself far more than a marketing relic—and AtData is at the forefront of this resurgence.

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CallRail’s Voice Assist Brings AI to the Front Lines of Lead Capture and Call Conversion

After quietly beta-testing it with impressive results, CallRail has officially launched Voice Assist, a 24/7 AI-powered voice agent designed to ensure that no inbound call—and no lead—is left behind.

For the 220,000 businesses and 7,000+ marketing agencies already using CallRail to track and optimize calls, this is a serious step forward. In early tests, Voice Assist cut missed calls in half and boosted answered call volume by an average of 44%, helping businesses convert inbound leads—even after hours—without needing more staff.

“Voice Assist unlocks the full potential of every call,” said Marc Ginsberg, CEO at CallRail. “It captures intent, streamlines follow-ups, and gives businesses a faster, smarter way to turn calls into revenue.”

No More Missed Leads After 5 PM

According to CallRail’s data, 30% of business calls go unanswered—a huge leak in the sales funnel. Voice Assist plugs that hole by answering calls automatically, engaging with leads using real-time AI trained on a business’s own website and call transcripts.

And setup is painless: no manual scripts, no coding, and full personalization—including voice tone, business hours, and escalation rules for handing off high-value opportunities.

More Than a Virtual Receptionist

Voice Assist goes beyond simply answering calls. It's deeply integrated into CallRail’s broader lead engagement platform, turning every conversation into a marketing signal:

• Lead qualification & scoring: Understand not just who’s calling, but why—and how urgent they are.

• Appointment booking: Callers can book directly through the AI.

• Conversion tracking: Calls tagged by Voice Assist (e.g., “requested an appointment”) feed directly into ad platforms like Google Ads to inform campaign targeting.

• Unified attribution: Whether answered by a human or AI, data flows into CallRail’s reporting—keeping keyword, channel, and campaign performance insights intact.

• Transcripts & sentiment summaries: Know exactly what happened in each call without listening manually.

“It’s made our campaigns smarter and our results stronger,” said Michael Hurley, COO of Einstein Industries. “Now we’re capturing high-intent leads even after hours and qualifying them automatically.”

AI That Knows Your Business—Fast

Unlike traditional IVRs or bot assistants that require tedious manual setup, Voice Assist is pre-trained with your business context, pulling data from your site, previous calls, and marketing content to sound informed right out of the box.

“I was blown away by how much the agent knew about my business,” said Scott Clift, CEO of Westpark Equity Group.

From auto-tagged call outcomes to seamless integrations with 60+ martech tools, Voice Assist is part AI receptionist, part analytics engine, and part campaign optimizer.

Built for Agencies and SMBs Alike

With security and compliance top of mind, and millions of hours of call analysis behind its AI models, CallRail is betting Voice Assist can be a game-changer—especially for small businesses that can’t afford to miss a lead or delay a follow-up.

“We cut unanswered calls in half,” said Franco Aquino of REN Marketing LLC. “It’s made a huge difference in our lead flow.”

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Omnisend's research shows coastal states New Jersey and California become less attractive with scale, while rust belt states remain steady for every business scenario

New research from Omnisend, a leading email and SMS marketing platform for ecommerce brands, ranked every U.S. state based on factors relevant to ecommerce entrepreneurs and found that for an average ecommerce brand earning $1 million yearly and selling primarily out of state, the top three scores belong to South Dakota, Wyoming, and North Dakota. Notably, these three states combine zero corporate income tax, lean regulations, and above average household purchasing power.

At the other end of the spectrum, the non-contiguous states of Hawaii (50th) and Alaska (49th) consistently rank lowest on the Index. Among mainland states, California (48th) and Louisiana (47th) perform worst for an average company – though for different reasons. California's steep tax and cost burdens add up quickly, while Louisiana struggles with poor infrastructure and one of the most complex tax systems in the country.

Omnisend's Ecommerce Opportunity Index ranks every state on ten factors, including taxes, purchasing power, infrastructure quality, red tape, regional opportunities, and more, to pinpoint the best places to base an online retail business.

"The ideal home base for an online store isn't the same for every company — what works for a startup selling within state might restrict a bigger brand shipping nationwide," said Marty Bauer, ecommerce expert at Omnisend. "But once you match those company specifics against each state's taxes, buying power, broadband, and logistics, a handful come out on top, while high-cost or infrastructure-poor states sink."

From coasts to the Midwest – ecommerce success shifts with scale

The Index tells a different story for coastal states. New Jersey ranks #1 for a business earning $100 thousand in-state, thanks to strong infrastructure and dense customer base. But as revenue grows to $1 million and sales shift out-of-state, NJ drops to 45th due to steep progressive taxes and low purchasing power. California shows a similar pattern – ranking 11th at lower revenue but falling to 48th as costs surge with scale and expansion.

Reality backs the numbers. From 2025 New Jersey's top marginal tax rate is 11.5% – the highest corporate tax rate in the nation by far. Whereas California posted the largest net domestic-migration loss in 2024 – 239,575 residents – and holds the record for 17 headquarters departures in one year. 

Texas and Florida sit in the Index's broad middle. Each offers clear strengths – competitive taxes in Florida, a giant home market in Texas – but none delivers the across-the-board advantages the top-ranked Plains states do.

For stability, you can't go wrong with Rust Belt states Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania, which stay in the index's top half across almost all scenarios thanks to moderate taxes, decent purchasing power, and great regional connections.

"While the Rust Belt is often seen as past its prime, the states offer manageable taxes, solid infrastructure, and easy reach to half the U.S. market in a day's drive. That said, early-stage brands can still benefit from the talent, capital, and connections found in places like California and New Jersey. The smartest founders launch where momentum is easiest and scale where it's sustainable," says Marty Bauer.

If you want to find out more about other states, visit the full report: https://www.omnisend.com/ecommerce-index/ 

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