Taboola expands Realize platform with major publisher partnerships

Taboola announced on October 15, 2025, that its performance advertising platform Realize has secured expanded partnerships with several major publishers. The company deepened relationships with TIME, Weather Channel Digital, Gannett | USA TODAY Network, Nexstar, and Slate to provide performance advertisers with access to display inventory through Realize.

The announcement represents a significant shift for Taboola as it moves beyond its traditional native advertising focus. The platform now enables advertisers to access display inventory across a broad publisher network, marking what CEO Adam Singolda described as the company's "push beyond native with Realize." Publishers are expanding their partnerships with Taboola to deliver additional value to advertisers, building on relationships that have developed over years.

Realize operates using an AI performance engine designed to identify optimal campaign opportunities across Taboola's network of trusted publishers and applications. The engine relies on data from Taboola's code-on-page integrations with publishers, which the company states provides unique signal capabilities unavailable to other open web platforms when optimizing and placing advertisements.

"We've spent years building real relationships with publishers. We've evolved with them, helped them grow their audiences, engagement, and ability to work with advertisers," Singolda stated. "We announced our push beyond native with Realize, and we're excited for publishers to be leaning in, expanding their partnerships with us, and delivering more for advertisers together."

The platform reaches approximately 600 million daily active users across publisher networks. Taboola works with thousands of businesses that advertise directly on Realize, connecting them with audiences on publishers including NBC News and Yahoo, as well as original equipment manufacturers such as Samsung and Xiaomi.

Financial commitments to publishers

Taboola expects to pay over $1.5 billion to publishers and OEMs in 2025. This financial commitment reflects the company's approach to maintaining publisher relationships while expanding its advertising technology offerings. The payment structure represents the company's holistic approach to driving performance across multiple formats and placements, extending beyond search and social channels.

For the digital advertising industry, Taboola's expansion reflects ongoing platform consolidation in the performance advertising space. Publishers face increasing pressure to diversify revenue streams, and partnerships with platforms offering AI-driven optimization tools have become a critical component of monetization strategies.

Publisher perspectives on the partnership

Tim Wolfe, Senior Vice President of Revenue Operations at Gannett, commented on the expanded relationship: "Our partnership with Taboola has consistently delivered results, and giving advertisers access to our display inventory on Realize represents an exciting step forward. We value Taboola's collaborative approach and look forward to what we can accomplish next as we continue to evolve."

Molly Gallagher, Programmatic Manager at Slate, emphasized the long-term nature of the partnership: "Taboola has been a trusted partner in helping us grow and innovate across our digital business. Over the years, they've shown a strong understanding of our goals and a commitment to building long-term value—not just through technology, but through true collaboration. With the launch of Realize, we see a new opportunity to deepen that partnership and tap into more impactful revenue streams."

Technical infrastructure and data advantages

The AI performance engine powering Realize differentiates itself through access to publisher data. Taboola's code-on-page integrations provide first-party signal that informs the platform's optimization algorithms. This technical integration gives Realize access to behavioral data and contextual signals that platforms without direct publisher integrations cannot access.

The platform's ability to optimize across multiple inventory types—native, display, and other formats—provides advertisers with flexibility in how they reach audiences. Publishers benefit from the technology by accessing demand from performance-focused advertisers who might not have previously allocated budget to their inventory.

Market context and competitive positioning

The announcement comes as publishers navigate challenges with third-party cookies and seek alternatives for monetizing digital content. Platforms that offer direct integrations and first-party data solutions have gained importance as the industry transitions away from cookie-based targeting.

Taboola's expansion into display inventory puts it in more direct competition with established programmatic platforms. However, the company's existing publisher relationships and code-on-page integrations provide infrastructure advantages that newer entrants would need years to replicate.

The performance advertising market has seen significant shifts as advertisers seek alternatives to dominant search and social platforms. Open web platforms offering measurable outcomes at scale have attracted increased attention from marketers looking to diversify channel mix.

Publisher monetization implications

For publishers, the expanded Taboola partnership offers access to additional demand sources for display inventory. The Realize platform's optimization capabilities may help publishers maximize revenue from inventory that might otherwise go unfilled or sell at lower rates through other channels.

The $1.5 billion payment commitment demonstrates substantial financial flow through Taboola's platform to content creators and device manufacturers. This revenue share model aligns platform and publisher incentives, as Taboola's growth depends directly on publisher inventory performance.

Publishers joining Realize gain access to Taboola's advertiser base, which includes thousands of businesses seeking performance-oriented placements. The platform's AI-driven optimization means publishers can potentially see higher effective CPMs as the system identifies which advertisers and creative combinations perform best on their inventory.

Technical capabilities and advertiser access

Realize allows advertisers to tap into display inventory alongside other parts of Taboola's network. The platform's specialization in performance advertising means optimization focuses on driving measurable outcomes rather than purely awareness-based metrics.

The data advantage from code-on-page integrations enables the platform to collect signals about user behavior, content context, and engagement patterns. These signals inform real-time bidding decisions and creative optimization, helping advertisers identify which inventory drives their desired outcomes.

Publishers like NBC News and major OEMs use Taboola's technology to grow both audience and revenue. This dual focus on audience development and monetization distinguishes Taboola's approach from platforms that focus exclusively on advertising delivery.

Industry significance for digital advertising

The expansion of Realize addresses a key challenge in digital advertising: providing performance advertisers with scaled access to premium publisher inventory. Many performance advertisers have historically concentrated spending on search and social platforms, leaving publisher websites underutilized in media plans.

Programmatic advertising continues to evolve as machine learning capabilities improve and publishers seek partners who can deliver both demand and technological innovation. Platforms that combine direct publisher relationships with AI-driven optimization tools have positioned themselves as alternatives to walled garden ecosystems.

The marketing community watches publisher-platform partnerships closely because they signal where advertising dollars may flow in coming quarters. Large-scale commitments like Taboola's $1.5 billion payment expectation indicate substantial advertiser demand flowing through these alternative channels.

Earlier in 2025, Taboola introduced Predictive Audiences, which generated conversion improvements of up to 270% for early adopters. The company has consistently expanded its AI capabilities throughout the year, building on its strong Q2 2024 performance when ex-TAC gross profit grew 21% year-over-year.

Taboola has also focused on premium inventory access through initiatives like Taboola Select, which offers advertisers access to a curated selection of top publishers including Yahoo, Business Insider, and The Associated Press. The company partnered with Jounce Media to verify that its premium network remains free from Made for Advertising properties.

Timeline

• October 15, 2025: Taboola announced expanded publisher partnerships for its Realize platform, including TIME, Weather Channel Digital, Gannett | USA TODAY Network, Nexstar, and Slate
• October 15, 2025: Company stated it expects to pay over $1.5 billion to publishers and OEMs in 2025
• June 2025: Taboola launched Predictive Audiences, achieving 270% conversion improvements for early adopters
• June 2025: Taboola unveiled DeeperDive AI answer engine for publishers including Gannett and The Independent
• November 2024: Taboola reported Q3 2024 growth with 20% revenue increase to $433 million
• October 2024: Taboola partnered with Jounce Media to ensure MFA-free inventory on Taboola Select
• August 2024: Taboola reported strong Q2 2024 results with 29% revenue growth
• July 2024: Taboola launched Taboola for Audience, an AI-powered platform to increase publisher web traffic
• April 2024: Taboola launched Taboola Select targeting large advertisers with premium publisher network

Summary

Who: Taboola (Nasdaq: TBLA), a performance advertising technology company, along with publisher partners TIME, Weather Channel Digital, Gannett | USA TODAY Network, Nexstar, and Slate.

What: Taboola announced expanded partnerships to provide performance advertisers access to display inventory through its Realize platform, powered by an AI performance engine. The company expects to pay over $1.5 billion to publishers and OEMs in 2025.

When: The announcement was made on October 15, 2025.

Where: The partnerships affect Taboola's network reaching approximately 600 million daily active users across global publisher sites and applications, with publishers including NBC News, Yahoo, and OEMs such as Samsung and Xiaomi.

Why: Taboola is expanding beyond native advertising to offer performance advertisers more ways to reach consumers across multiple formats and placements, while providing publishers with additional monetization opportunities through AI-optimized advertising technology that leverages unique data from code-on-page integrations.