Exclusive: AP launches e-commerce site with Taboola
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The Associated Press is launching an e-commerce site called AP Buyline, powered by Taboola, executives told Axios.
Why it matters: It's part of a broader effort by the AP to diversify its business by adding more consumer revenue.
- The company, which has historically made most of its money from licensing its content to other media organizations, redid its website last year to boost consumer traffic and advertising revenue.
What's next: The new shopping effort will launch March 18th, beginning with personal finance recommendations in categories such as credit cards, investments, insurance and retirement savings.
- Additional shopping categories, such as home products, beauty, and fashion will launch in April.
How it works: The content, which includes product reviews, will be created by a team at Taboola that will work closely with the AP to adhere to its standards and editorial style.
- At the AP, the initiative is being spearheaded by Drew Stoneman, who serves as vice president for consumer revenue.
- Taboola's content team is managed by chief editor Will Kenton, a longtime personal finance editor.
Context: Taboola, which went public in 2021, has traditionally helped power native advertising for publishers on the open web, but it's more recently pushed to expand into e-commerce.
- The firm acquired e-commerce platform Connexity in 2021 for $800 million to power that effort.
- Last year, the company launched a new business called Taboola Turnkey Commerce, which provides publishers with ready-to-use recommendations they can use to sell affiliate advertising.
- Shortly after, it partnered with Time to launch a new site called "Time Stamped," which now has 3 million monthly users, Taboola said.
