Prague-based AdTech company R2B2, majority-owned by Genesis Capital Growth, has acquired Caroda, a leading video advertising SaaS company. This strategic acquisition strengthens R2B2’s capabilities and positions both companies for growth in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region and international markets.

Accelerating Growth Through Acquisition and Innovation

• Enhanced Offerings: The acquisition allows R2B2 to expand its programmatic demand solutions with Caroda’s advanced SaaS tools.
• Leadership Expansion: R2B2 CEO František Bauma will also take on the role of Managing Director at Caroda.
• Immediate Collaboration: A phased integration of services and technologies will take place over the coming months.
• Continued Client Support: Existing clients will continue to receive uninterrupted services.

A Unified Vision for Publishers

• Caroda’s Strengths: Known for its Multiformat Carousel technology, Caroda helps publishers maximize ad revenue even in declining traffic conditions.
• Leadership Continuity: Caroda CEO Roman Mura will retain his position while also becoming Chief Strategy Officer at R2B2.
• Strategic Growth: By joining forces, the companies aim to create one of the most effective monetization platforms in the online advertising market.

Supporting Regional and Global Expansion

• R2B2’s Market Reach: The company operates in 46 countries worldwide, with a strong presence in the CEE region.
• Caroda’s Expertise: Nearly a decade of experience in video advertising will enhance R2B2’s offerings for publishers.
• Future Outlook: The partnership enables both companies to address industry challenges and provide sustainable revenue growth for publishers globally.

The acquisition of Caroda marks a major milestone in R2B2’s expansion strategy. By combining expertise in video ad monetization and programmatic advertising, both companies are set to deliver innovative, scalable solutions for publishers worldwide.

Resonate, a leader in predictive consumer intelligence, has announced the launch of its revolutionary rAI-powered Audience Builder. This AI-driven tool redefines how marketers and data analysts create audience segments, making the process faster, more accurate, and highly intuitive.

Key Features of the rAI-Powered Audience Builder

• AI-Powered Precision: The tool leverages Resonate’s proprietary AI model, rAI, to analyze thousands of consumer attributes instantly.
• Natural Language Interface: Users can create audience segments by simply entering prompts, eliminating the need for manual searches.
• Time-Saving Technology: What previously took hours can now be accomplished in seconds, enhancing efficiency and productivity.

Revolutionizing Audience Targeting

• Enhanced Marketing Strategies: The tool empowers marketers to refine their targeting strategies with AI-driven insights.
• Democratizing Consumer Intelligence: The intuitive interface allows users of all expertise levels to build complex audience personas effortlessly.
• Boosting Customer Lifetime Value: By improving the relevance and quality of audience segments, brands can foster deeper customer relationships.

Industry Impact and Availability

• New Standard in Consumer Intelligence: Resonate continues to set benchmarks in AI-powered marketing solutions.
• Immediate Access: The rAI-powered Audience Builder is now available to all users of the Resonate Ignite platform.

Resonate’s rAI-powered Audience Builder marks a significant step in AI-driven consumer intelligence. By simplifying audience segmentation while enhancing accuracy, this tool empowers marketers to make data-backed decisions faster than ever before.

tvScientific, a leading performance advertising platform for connected TV (CTV), has secured $25.5 million in Series B funding. Led by NewRoad Capital Partners, the round includes investments from Roku, Second Alpha Partners, and existing backers like Norwest Venture Partners, S4S Ventures, and Progress Ventures.

Expanding the CTV Market

• CTV advertising, currently a $30 billion market, is expected to reach $42 billion by 2028.
• Most TV advertising today focuses on brand awareness, limiting access for performance-driven advertisers.
• tvScientific’s vision is to build Performance TV, enabling CTV advertising with the same targeting, measurement, and optimization capabilities found in search and social advertising.

Key Investor Insights

• Jason Fairchild, CEO & Co-founder, tvScientific: "We aim to transform CTV into a multi-hundred-billion-dollar category by making it performance-driven, just like search and social."
• John Sheehy, Operating Partner, NewRoad Capital Partners: "tvScientific is leading the shift to a results-oriented CTV advertising model, allowing brands to engage consumers with measurable outcomes."
• Miles Fisher, Senior Director, Roku: "Our investment in tvScientific aligns with our belief that TV advertising should be accessible to all advertisers, delivering performance-driven results."

How tvScientific is Changing CTV Advertising

• Patented Technologies: Six patents issued for identity resolution, outcome measurement, and AI-driven optimization.
• Scalable Go-to-Market Expansion: Plans to 10x its customer base in two years, positioning CTV as a true rival to search and social advertising.
• Proven Performance: Trusted by brands like Foot Locker, Rare Beauty, EA, Weight Watchers, and Britbox, achieving high ROAS and improved CPAs compared to crowded digital ad spaces.

With this funding, tvScientific is accelerating the adoption of Performance TV, making CTV advertising as accountable and results-driven as search and social. As the industry shifts toward performance-based models, tvScientific is leading the charge in reshaping how advertisers engage audiences through CTV.

Sojern, a leading digital marketing platform for travel, has released its "State of Destination Marketing 2025" report in collaboration with Benchmark Research Partners. Supported by Brand USA, Destination Canada, the European Travel Commission, and the Caribbean Tourism Organization, the report builds on last year’s findings, analyzing trends shaping the future of destination marketing organizations (DMOs).

Findings from the 2025 Report

1. Digital Advertising Budgets Are Growing

• 85% of DMOs are maintaining or increasing their digital ad spend compared to last year.
• A shift toward data-driven strategies is helping DMOs maximize ROI and engage travelers throughout the funnel.

2. Campaign Complexity and ROI Challenges

• DMOs are launching multichannel campaigns but struggle with tracking results.
• Top metrics used:
  • 60% measure performance by clicks.
  • 54% struggle to prove ROI.
  • 37% cite tracking and attribution as major challenges.
• Programmatic advertising (83%) remains a preferred strategy due to its precision and cost-effectiveness.

3. AI Adoption in Destination Marketing

• 63% of DMOs leverage AI for content creation, but only 28% use AI for data analysis.
• This highlights a huge opportunity for DMOs to use AI in performance measurement and campaign optimization.

4. The Shift to Always-On Campaigns

• 52% of DMOs now prefer always-on marketing over traditional seasonal campaigns (40%) to maintain continuous engagement.
• 42% of DMOs report that always-on strategies improve brand awareness.

5. Personalization & Audience Targeting

• 66% of DMOs create tailored campaigns for specific travel audiences (e.g., outdoor enthusiasts).
• However, only 15% use real-time personalization, revealing a missed opportunity for deeper audience engagement.

6. A New Focus on Brand Awareness

• Post-pandemic, DMOs are shifting from short-term bookings to long-term brand-building.
• Campaigns are now evenly split (50/50) between full-funnel and stage-specific strategies.
• This is a shift from 2024, where full-funnel dominated at 70%.

7. Data: A Powerful Yet Underutilized Tool

• 51% of DMOs cite data analysis as a major challenge.
• 45% struggle to turn insights into action.
• Despite challenges, most DMOs use data for:
  • 84%: Digital marketing insights.
  • 75%: Visitor tracking.
  • 69%: Market research.

8. Co-op Marketing Gains Momentum

• European DMOs saw a 16% YoY increase in co-op marketing, partnering with airlines, hotels, and attractions to amplify reach.

9. Social Media & Video Dominate

• 91% of DMOs use social media for marketing.
• Facebook & Instagram (99%) remain top channels.
• CTV and short-form video are emerging as powerful storytelling tools for destination marketing.

Sojern’s 2025 Destination Marketing Report confirms the increasing digitalization of DMOs, the rise of AI-driven marketing, and the shift to always-on strategies. While challenges around data, ROI measurement, and personalization remain, programmatic advertising, co-op marketing, and video adoption offer new growth opportunities for travel marketers.

Contracts are a necessary part of business and personal transactions, but they are often complex and difficult to navigate. Adobe's new intelligent contract capabilities in Acrobat AI Assistant leverage generative AI to simplify contract management, making it easier for users to understand, compare, and manage contracts faster than ever.

Features and Benefits of Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant

1. Contract Intelligence

• AI Assistant automatically recognizes contracts, even scanned documents.
• Generates a comprehensive overview of the contract, surfacing key terms in one click.
• Summarizes contract content and recommends relevant questions.

2. Straightforward Explanations and Verified Responses

• AI generates summaries with clear, simple language.
• Clickable citations allow users to verify the responses for accuracy.
• Helps avoid misunderstandings and improves the efficiency of contract reviews.

3. Compare and Contrast Multiple Contracts

• Instantly see differences and discrepancies between up to 10 contracts.
• Compare various versions of documents to ensure consistency.
• Quick identification of changes, discrepancies, or updates across documents.

4. Secure Sharing and E-signing

• Share contracts securely with stakeholders.
• Request e-signatures directly within the app.
• Ensures a streamlined and secure signing process for all involved parties.

Use Cases Across Various Industries

• Business Owners: Quickly spot key dates and important terms in vendor agreements or partnership contracts.
• Finance Teams: Accelerate the review of financial documents, including sales contracts.
• Marketers: Identify changes in advertising agreements or partnerships.
• Consumers: Easily compare lease agreements, mobile plans, or venue options.

Commitment to Data Security

Adobe prioritizes data privacy and security in AI development. Acrobat AI Assistant is governed by strict data security protocols, ensuring customer data is never used for training AI models. Additionally, third-party AI tools are prohibited from accessing Adobe customer data, ensuring complete confidentiality.

Adobe's Acrobat AI Assistant revolutionizes the way businesses and consumers manage contracts, transforming a traditionally tedious process into a fast, secure, and user-friendly experience. With cutting-edge AI and machine learning technology, users can now navigate, compare, and verify contracts with ease, driving efficiency and confidence in their decision-making.

Smarsh, a global leader in communications data and intelligence, has acquired CallCabinet, a pioneer in cloud-native compliance call recording and analytics. This acquisition enhances Smarsh's ability to offer an advanced, scalable, and AI-powered voice recording solution that meets the growing regulatory compliance demands across industries.

Features and Benefits of the Acquisition

1. AI-Powered Voice Analytics

• Smarsh integrates CallCabinet’s AI-powered voice analytics into its compliance platform.
• Enables advanced voice capture, surveillance, and insights to enhance compliance and business intelligence.

2. End-to-End Digital Communications Platform

• Smarsh now offers a comprehensive platform that includes voice, email, social media, and messaging channels for compliance and communications intelligence.
• Supports over 100 communications channels like WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Zoom, and more.

3. Enhanced Compliance for Regulated Industries

• The acquisition is timely, with growing regulatory pressure on industries such as finance, healthcare, and government to retain voice call data.
• Helps businesses mitigate compliance risks and avoid hefty fines like those seen from GDPR and CFTC violations.

4. Global Reach and Channel Expansion

• CallCabinet's global presence in markets like Australia, Germany, South Africa, and the UK strengthens Smarsh’s international footprint.
• Offers a robust partner ecosystem with certified integrations, including Avaya, Cisco, Microsoft, Webex, Zoom, and 8x8.

Why This Acquisition Matters

• For Businesses: Smarsh’s acquisition allows companies to integrate a scalable, modern solution for compliance call recording and analytics, without relying on outdated, expensive technologies.
• For Industries: The acquisition gives heavily regulated sectors the tools they need to comply with evolving regulations while maintaining operational efficiency.
• For Smarsh: This strengthens Smarsh’s leadership in the communications compliance space by providing an even more powerful, integrated platform for global customers.

By acquiring CallCabinet, Smarsh continues to lead in compliance innovation, extending its capabilities in voice capture and analytics to provide an all-in-one platform for businesses looking to manage, protect, and accelerate their communications. As regulatory pressure increases, this acquisition ensures that Smarsh's customers are equipped to navigate complex compliance landscapes more effectively.

Particular Audience has officially launched the third phase of its innovative Retail Media platform, designed to revolutionize the future of eCommerce. Available to existing clients on DiscoveryOS, this release brings advanced AI-driven features that enhance ad placement precision, streamline campaign management, and provide unparalleled targeting capabilities. This marks a significant shift from legacy systems that rely on outdated keyword targeting to an AI-first model that predicts customer intent with remarkable accuracy.

Highlights of the Launch

1. AI-Powered Automation for Ad Campaigns

• AI-Powered Sponsored Search: Now out of beta, this feature automates sponsored placements across 99% of search results, eliminating manual keyword bidding and driving up click-through and conversion rates.
• Fixed Tenancy Scheduler: Enables retailers to sell premium, fixed-tenancy ad placements automatically, with zero manual effort.
• Dynamic Collections: Fully automated, real-time attribute-based product collections that adapt dynamically to catalog changes.

2. Next-Generation Display Features

• Accessibility-Ready Banners: Ensures compliance with the European Accessibility Act 2025, making advertising inclusive for all audiences, especially in the EU.
• Enhanced Creative Control: Retailers can now configure over 30 fields across five component types for cross-format HTML5 creative.
• Video & Rich Media Ads: Incorporates engaging formats combining video, interactive elements, and product carousels.
• Creative & Asset Management Studio: A fully integrated suite for managing and optimizing ad creatives.

3. Data-Driven Ad Operations

• Approval Workflows & Notification Centre: Full control over ad approvals with real-time status updates for retailers and brands.
• Zero PII Customer Data Tools: DiscoveryOS Segment Builder and Open CDP Integration provide privacy-compliant targeting without requiring personally identifiable information (PII).
• New Cost Model: CPA (Cost per Acquisition): Along with traditional CPM and CPC, offering advertisers more performance-based options.

The AI-Driven Advantage

James Taylor, Founder & CEO of Particular Audience, emphasized that the future of retail media lies in AI-driven, personalized eCommerce. "In three years, manual targeting in Retail Media will be obsolete, just as Meta’s Advantage+ and Google’s PMAX have replaced outdated manual workflows," he stated. The company’s dedication to R&D since 2020 has led to the creation of the only AI-first retail media platform, capable of predicting shopper intent before they even express it.

By replacing keyword-based models with Adaptive Transformer Search, Particular Audience has significantly increased sponsored product fill rates, showcasing the powerful potential of AI in driving ad revenue and campaign performance.

The Competitive Edge in Retail Media

Particular Audience’s AI-first approach enables retailers to generate more revenue with less manual work. Brands see higher engagement and improved ad performance as a result of the automation and intelligent targeting now available on the platform. The shift from manual processes to AI-driven automation marks a turning point in the retail media landscape, ensuring advertisers stay ahead of the curve.

The European Accessibility Act & Retail Media

With millions of people in the EU living with disabilities, accessibility is becoming a critical aspect of advertising and eCommerce. The European Accessibility Act (EAA), effective by June 28, 2025, requires all retailers and advertisers engaging with European consumers to ensure accessibility compliance. Particular Audience is proactive in ensuring its platform meets these standards, helping retailers not only avoid legal penalties but also improve SEO, enhance user experience, and increase engagement from underserved audiences.

Particular Audience’s latest platform update sets a new benchmark in AI-driven retail media, offering retailers and brands the tools to drive higher ad performance, greater engagement, and more revenue. By embracing AI-first strategies and accessibility standards now, businesses can position themselves for success in the future of eCommerce.

BlueConic, a leader in customer data platforms, has achieved a major milestone with the launch of a real-time connection between Jebbit's Experiences and its CDP. This groundbreaking integration allows marketers to continuously enrich customer profiles with high-quality, consented data collected through Jebbit’s Experiences, facilitating deeper insights and faster, more relevant personalization. This advancement empowers marketers to update profiles instantly, trigger personalized offers, and engage customers without the delays of manual workflows or batch processing.

Benefits of the Integration

1. Richer Insights in Real-Time

• Data collected through Jebbit Experiences is instantly merged into customer profiles within BlueConic, providing marketers with deeper, more actionable insights. With immediate access to enriched data, teams can understand customer preferences and behaviors more clearly.

2. Smarter, Timely Personalization

• The real-time connection ensures marketers can leverage the latest data to create hyper-targeted offers and campaigns immediately after a Jebbit Experience is completed. This leads to more relevant and impactful customer interactions.

3. Faster Execution and Campaign Activation

• With the self-service connection, marketers can eliminate bottlenecks and manual processes, enabling faster campaign execution. Real-time segmentation and activation capabilities allow teams to react to changing customer preferences swiftly and efficiently.

BlueConic's Vision for Enhanced Customer Engagement

"Marketing success comes down to getting better data into the hands of people who can act on it," said Leonardo Carbonara, VP Product at BlueConic. This integration delivers richer data, sharper insights, and the agility to act when it matters most—making it easier for marketers to build meaningful connections with customers and deliver timely, relevant offers.

The BlueConic and Jebbit Partnership

In 2024, BlueConic acquired Jebbit, a leader in first-party data capture and experience creation software. This integration is the first in a series of planned upgrades aimed at enhancing BlueConic’s Customer Data Operating System (CDOS). The combination of BlueConic’s real-time customer data platform with Jebbit’s powerful experience software enables marketers to move faster, deepen customer relationships, and achieve more impactful marketing outcomes.

The new real-time connection between Jebbit Experiences and BlueConic’s CDP marks a significant advancement in customer data management and personalization. By enabling faster, smarter, and more relevant marketing campaigns, this integration helps marketers improve their ability to engage with customers in real-time, driving better business outcomes.