MONTREAL, May 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stingray Group Inc. (TSX: RAY.A; RAY.B) (“Stingray”), an industry leader in music and video content distribution, business services, and advertising solutions, today announced that Jean-Pierre Trahan, its Chief Financial Officer, is taking a leave of absence for health reasons. The Board of Directors of Stingray has appointed Marie-Hélène Fournier to serve as Interim Chief Financial Officer and perform the duties of the principal financial officer of the company, e ...

Core Viewpoint - A securities class action lawsuit has been filed against DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc. for alleged misrepresentations that led to significant stock price drops during the class period from November 10, 2023, to February 27, 2025 [1]. Allegations Summary - Ad Spend Shift: Customers shifted advertising spending from open exchanges to closed platforms, where DoubleVerify's technology was less effective and faced increased competition [7]. - Technology Development Costs: The costs and time required for developing technology for closed platforms were higher than disclosed by the company [7]. - Monetization Timeline: The timeline for monetizing Activation Services on closed platforms was projected to take several years [7]. - AI Competitiveness: Competitors were better positioned to integrate AI, which negatively impacted DoubleVerify's competitive edge and profitability [7]. - Overbilling: The company allegedly overbilled customers for ad impressions served to declared bots operating from data center server farms [7]. - Misleading Risk Disclosures: The company misrepresented existing problems as hypothetical risks in its disclosures [7]. - Misleading Positive Statements: False or misleading statements were made regarding the company's operations and future prospects [7]. Stock Performance - February 28, 2024: The stock fell over 21% after announcing lower Q1 2024 revenue growth expectations [7]. - May 7, 2024: The stock plunged nearly 39% after cutting the full-year 2024 revenue outlook [7]. - February 27, 2025: The stock dropped 36% following disappointing Q4 2024 results [7].

Summary of Yelp (YELP) Conference Call - May 29, 2025 Company Overview - **Company**: Yelp (YELP) - **Industry**: Online review and local services platform Key Points Evolution of Business Model - Transition from a sales headcount-driven growth model to a product-driven growth model, focusing on product delivery and leveraging emerging technologies like AI and large language models [4][5] - Approximately two-thirds of revenue now comes from services, marking a significant shift from the traditional focus on restaurant and retail reviews [5] Services Business Performance - Services grew at approximately 11% each quarter in 2024, with a 14% growth in Q1 2025, partly due to the acquisition of RepairPal [6][7] - Home services have been a major driver of growth, with enhancements in the "Request Quote" feature allowing better matching of consumers with service providers [7][8] - Expansion into other service categories, including auto services through the RepairPal acquisition, is expected to drive further growth [8][20] Multi-Location Services Strategy - Focus on mid-market and enterprise customers to increase advertising revenue from services [12][13] - Development of APIs and lead management systems to support enterprise customers across multiple locations [13][14] Challenges in Restaurant and Retail Sector - The restaurant and retail segment has faced challenges due to rising input costs and inability to pass these costs onto consumers, resulting in a 3% decline in Q1 2025 [24][25] - Competition from food delivery platforms and retail ad networks has increased, impacting advertising budgets [28][29] - Yelp is enhancing consumer experience and ad matching technology to retain advertiser interest [26][30] Traffic and Engagement Insights - Experimentation with paid traffic acquisition led to increased project generation but did not result in higher ad budgets from advertisers, prompting a pullback in spending [31][33] - Focus on ROI-driven strategies to ensure that advertising budgets are effectively utilized [34] AI Integration and Future Outlook - AI is viewed as a significant opportunity, with investments in Yelp Assistant and other AI-driven features to enhance user experience and service matching [35][36] - Plans to leverage AI for improving call handling and customer engagement [37][38] Macroeconomic Sensitivity - The restaurant and retail business is more cyclical and sensitive to economic downturns, while the services business has a significant non-discretionary component [41][42] - Service professionals tend to increase advertising during economic slowdowns to maintain business [42] Revenue Guidance and Margin Outlook - Revenue guidance for Q2 2025 indicates a slowdown, with expectations for acceleration in the second half of the year [44] - Factors contributing to margin pressure include increased data spending for AI products, the lower gross margin from RepairPal, and fluctuations in employee-related expenses [48][51] Conclusion - Yelp is focused on delivering value to both consumers and advertisers, with a strong emphasis on enhancing product offerings and leveraging AI technologies to drive future growth [43][52]

Core Viewpoint - A securities class action lawsuit has been filed against DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc. for allegedly making false and misleading statements regarding its business operations and financial performance during the class period from November 10, 2023, to February 27, 2025 [1] Group 1: Allegations Against the Company - The lawsuit claims that the company's customers were shifting ad spending from open exchanges to closed platforms, where DoubleVerify's technological capabilities were limited [2] - It is alleged that the company's ability to monetize its high-margin Activation Services was constrained due to the high costs and time required for technology development for closed platforms [2] - The complaint states that monetization of Activation Services on certain closed platforms would take several years, contrary to what was disclosed to investors [2] - Competitors were reportedly better positioned to integrate AI into their offerings on closed platforms, negatively impacting DoubleVerify's competitive stance and profitability [2] - The company is accused of systematically overbilling customers for ad impressions served to declared bots operating from known data center server farms [2] - The risk disclosures provided by the company were claimed to be materially false and misleading, presenting adverse facts as mere possibilities [2] - As a result of these issues, the positive statements made by the company regarding its business and prospects were deemed materially false or misleading [2] Group 2: Investor Information - Investors who acquired shares of DoubleVerify are encouraged to contact the law firm before the lead plaintiff motion deadline of July 15, 2025 [3]

大家做的事情都比较类似，用 AI 来批量化生成各种广告视频，可以将它们比喻为 ChatGPT+Capcut、 Cursor for Marketing 或者 AI CMO。 AI 生成广告领域，正在成为一个非常热门并且被验证了商业模式的行业，而且这个领域也成为不少华人团 队瞄准的目标。 我之前曾介绍过一个 5 人团队在这个领域做到了 500 万美金 ARR 《 Genspark Agent 9 天突破 1000 万美 金 ARR， AI Agent 时代真的来了 》，其服务的主要是那些品牌和代理机构的营销团队，特别是那些专注 于数字产品的团队，因为他们需要快速高效得制作大量视频广告。 也介绍过一个华人团队做的 Icon.com（之前是 Icom.me），拿了 Peter Thiel 的 Founders Fund 以及不少 华人创始人的投资，它整合了脚本编写、视频编辑、创意存储、UGC、创意分析以及竞争对手广告监测等 功能。 其创始人 Kennan 曾声称在 30 天做到了 500 万美金的 ARR，后来遭到了一些质疑，觉得他们产品并不像 其声称的那样好，涉嫌虚假宣传，不过上个月他花了 1200 万美金买下了 ...

Group 1 - WPP has launched a new AI-driven media brand, WPP Media, marking the end of the GroupM era [1] - WPP Media aims to meet the growing demand for integrated marketing services, managing over $60 billion in annual media investments and serving more than 75% of top global advertisers across 80+ markets [1] - The three core agencies under WPP Media—Mindshare, Wavemaker, and EssenceMediacom—will continue to operate, providing customized service teams through shared resources and technology [1] Group 2 - The core driving force behind WPP Media is the in-house developed AI marketing system, WPP Open, which integrates creative, production, data, commerce, and personalized media capabilities [2] - WPP invests over £300 million annually in WPP Open and has established strategic partnerships with leading AI companies [2] - WPP Media's CEO, Brian Lesser, emphasizes the increasing consumer demand for relevant and engaging advertising in the AI era [2] Group 3 - WPP has launched a global advertising campaign titled "Transforming How We Create," showcasing its new positioning as an "AI-native company" [3] - The campaign is designed to demonstrate how AI can unlock the next phase of human creativity and connect brands with audiences [3] - WPP's investments in AI also include the acquisition of AI tech company Satalia in 2021 and an investment in Stability AI in early 2024, with annual spending in AI exceeding $400 million [3] Group 4 - The rebranding and advertising push come shortly after a recent round of layoffs at WPP due to unmet performance expectations for late 2024 to early 2025 [4] - WPP has initiated a restructuring plan for its media buying business, implementing layoffs without disclosing specific numbers [4] Group 5 - The establishment of WPP Media represents a culmination of the company's AI strategy and signifies a further acceleration in reshaping its agency network [5]

NEW YORK, May 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kuehn Law, PLLC, a shareholder litigation law firm, is investigating whether certain officers and directors of Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: IAS) breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders. According to a federal securities lawsuit, Insiders at Integral Ad Science caused the company to misrepresent or fail to disclose that (i) that IAS was experiencing a new material trend of increased competitive pricing pressures and that, as a result, IAS had b ...

Core Insights - Needham analyst Bernie McTernan reiterated a Hold rating on AppLovin Corp. (APP) and highlighted Axon 2 as a key growth tool for the company, which is an ad optimizer within the DSP [1] - The total number of websites using Axon increased by 3% to 323, with 18 new additions and 7 churns, indicating modest growth [1][2] - Apparel, Footwear & Accessories emerged as the largest category gainer, with 10 new additions and one churn [2] Company Performance - AppLovin reported having 600 e-commerce brands and a $1 billion ad spend run rate as of December [3] - The user count for the Axon pixel remained unchanged at 2,000, with a notable increase from 1,000 to 2,000 between February 28 and March 5 [6] - Projected second-quarter revenue is $1.21 billion with an EPS of $1.86 [6] Market Dynamics - The churn rate increased, with seven websites churning compared to one the previous month, although two of these companies shut down their businesses [2] - Reebok was noted as a significant brand addition to the Pixel, with sales around $5 billion, which is relatively low among the sampled big brands [4] - The valuation of AppLovin has become one of the highest in its coverage group, driven by expectations for monetizing its advertising platform [7]

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - Taboola's current gross revenue run rate is just under $2 billion, while the performance advertising market opportunity is estimated at over $55 billion [1][9] - The company has seen a 17% growth in scaled advertisers, which represent about 75-80% of its revenue, over the last two years [40][41] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Taboola is focusing on performance advertising, particularly in the open web, which is seen as a significant growth area due to diminishing returns in social media advertising [5][9] - The company has launched the Realize platform, which allows advertisers to pay on a CPC basis for display ads, enhancing the ease of use and performance tracking [21][24] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - The performance advertising market is segmented, with approximately $25 billion from open web performance advertising and $30 billion from diminishing returns in social media [9][10] - 75% of advertisers are experiencing diminishing returns on their social media spend, indicating a shift in advertising strategies [16] Company Strategy and Development Direction - Taboola aims to capture a larger share of the performance advertising market by leveraging unique first-party data and AI capabilities [7][39] - The company is focusing on verticals such as travel, financial services, and direct-to-consumer products, where it has seen lower churn rates and higher spending growth [18][19] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management believes that the shift towards performance advertising will continue due to macroeconomic challenges and the saturation of search and social media advertising [4][5] - The company is optimistic about its growth potential, particularly with the Realize platform, which is expected to contribute meaningfully to the business by 2026 [40][41] Other Important Information - Taboola has access to a unique dataset of 600 million daily active users and over a trillion monthly recommendations, which enhances its advertising effectiveness [35][39] - The company is committed to maintaining a conservative approach to guidance, allowing for potential upside as it executes its strategy [63] Q&A Session Summary Question: Can you walk us through the performance advertising opportunity? - The performance advertising market is estimated at over $55 billion, with significant potential in open web advertising and diminishing returns in social media [1][9] Question: How does the Realize platform enhance advertiser engagement? - Realize allows advertisers to pay only for clicks, improving transparency and performance measurement [21][24] Question: What metrics will be used to track Realize's client adoption? - The company will track scaled advertisers spending over $100,000 annually, which has grown 17% over the last two years [40][41] Question: What is the outlook for potential M&A opportunities? - Management is open to small, synergistic acquisitions but is focused on executing its current strategy without dilutive events [65][66]

SAN DIEGO, May 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP announces that purchasers or acquirers of DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: DV) common stock between November 10, 2023 and February 27, 2025, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), have until July 21, 2025 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the DoubleVerify class action lawsuit. Captioned Electrical Workers Pension Fund, Local 103, I.B.E.W. v. DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc., No. 25-cv-04332 (S.D.N.Y.), the D ...