Taboola
Israeli-founded content-recommendation advertising company; its founder and senior executives served in IDF cyber and intelligence units
| Taboola
| |
|---|---|
| Trade name | Taboola.com Ltd. |
| Logo |  Taboola logo |
| Type | Public company (Nasdaq: TBLA) |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Founder(s) | Adam Singolda |
| Headquarters | 16 Madison Square West, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10010, United States (incorporated in Israel) |
| Industry | Digital advertising |
| Services | Recommendation widgets and native advertising for publishers |
| Homepage | taboola.com |
Taboola (Taboola.com Ltd.) is an Israeli-incorporated advertising technology company, headquartered in New York, whose "recommended for you" panels of sponsored links appear on news websites. It was founded in 2007 by Adam Singolda, who according to the company "spent 6½ years serving in an advanced cyber technology unit of the Israel Defense Forces" (Israel Defense Forces).[1] The BBC described Singolda as having "spent almost seven years as an officer in an elite encryption unit of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF)".[2] Taboola became a listed company on Nasdaq in June 2021 through a merger with the special-purpose acquisition company ION Acquisition Corp. 1.[1]
Founders, executives and military service
Taboola's 2021 registration statement says that Singolda has been chief executive "since its founding in 2007", and that he "spent 6½ years serving in an advanced cyber technology unit of the Israel Defense Forces, serving as a research and development engineer and manager. He graduated IDF officers' academy with honors." The same document says that Eldad Maniv, then president and chief operating officer, "holds a B.S. degree from the Talpiot program at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and served five years as a systems engineering officer in an intelligence unit of the Israel Defense Forces", and that the chief technology officer, Lior Golan, also a graduate of the Talpiot programme, "served eight years in an intelligence unit of the Israel Defense Forces" (Intelligence Corps; Hebrew University of Jerusalem).[1]
Writing in 2014, the BBC's Will Smale said that Taboola "was established in Israel by Adam Singolda, who had previously spent almost seven years as an officer in an elite encryption unit of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF)".[2]
Ownership and listing
According to its registration statement, Taboola "consummated the Business Combination" with ION Acquisition Corp. 1 on 29 June 2021, and its ordinary shares and warrants are listed on Nasdaq under the symbols TBLA and TBLAW. The filing also records that Taboola incurred costs for a proposed merger with its rival Outbrain, "which we elected not to consummate", and that it bought the video-advertising company ConvertMedia in August 2016.[1] A British subsidiary, Taboola Europe Limited, is registered at Companies House.
Controversies
The BBC wrote in 2014 that Taboola was "at the forefront of 'click-bait'", with headlines such as "Controversial slimming pill sweeps the UK", and that "what it does may annoy you greatly". Singolda told the BBC that readers had only themselves to blame: "for everyone who hates one piece of content, many others love it, and click on it".[2]
See also
- Taboola Europe Limited
- Outbrain
- Talpiot
- Cyber and tech firms founded by ex Unit 8200 or occupation forces veterans
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Taboola.com Ltd., Form F-1 registration statement US Securities and Exchange Commission, 13 July 2021, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Will Smale, Taboola: The internet firm at the forefront of 'click-bait' BBC News, 30 September 2014, accessed 10 November 2026.