• Taboola, an AI-powered content recommendation and discovery platform, acquired Gravity R&D, a firm specializing in personalization technology for an undisclosed amount.  

• Based in Hungary, Gravity R&D was founded by experts in deep learning and data science, which it leveraged to develop Yusp, an ad personalization engine that is built on proprietary algorithms that applies deep learning techniques to understand the customer journey in order to enhance customer experiences at scale. Yusp’s solutions allow marketers to recommend products, improve the search experience, and personalize content in real-time for every visitor. Gravity R&D has customers in more than 20 countries in retail, ecommerce, and digital media including N11, Kaunet, GoShop, La Vanguardia, and Deutsche Telekom Hungary.

• As part of the acquisition, Taboola will create and invest in a new R&D hub at Gravity R&D’s headquarters in Hungary. This would be a part of Taboola’s stated goal of investing USD 100 million annually into R&D. 

• Taboola hopes the acquisition will improve its ad marketplace solutions ability to make more sophisticated recommendations and enhance its capabilities in areas like dynamic creative optimization and personalization in order to drive better outcomes for advertisers—especially those in retail and ecommerce.     

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: The acquisition is likely to complement its other initiatives, such as the launch of its homepage personalization tool earlier in the year, aimed at improving its ad personalization capabilities.</ul>