Google introduced new AdSense formats this week, where mobile ads will now match how your website looks. In an effort to improve user experience, publishers will be able to choose from three different formats, depending on how content is displayed on their sites. To learn more, read the News Briefs section below.
Featured in listings, is a $356K SaaS business in B2B e-commerce wholesale and inventory management, with high LTV and rapid YoY MRR growth, and an affiliate business in the outdoor sports and recreation space. If you’re interested in any of these listings, refer to the Deal Highlights section below.
This week in event news, FE is organizing a local Boston E-Commerce Meetup at CIC, an in-kind sponsor, on July 12th. The call for panelists is still open, so if you’re an expert on selling on Amazon, we encourage you to join the panel. Reply to this email if you’re interested. FE will be sponsoring Midwest E-Commerce Conference in Minneapolis on July 21-22, where Founder Thomas Smale will also be speaking. If you would like to speak directly to Thomas and the team, let us know and we can arrange a meeting.
Read on for more information on AdSense Native ads, Walmart vending machines and Microsoft layoffs.
Deal Highlights
Affiliate – Outdoor Sports & Recreation – $1.8K gross/mo
- High-quality long form articles
- Strong backlink profile
- Rapid revenue growth
- Low owner involvement
Yearly net profit: $18,000
Asking price: $55,000
SaaS – B2B E-Commerce Wholesale & Inventory Management – $9K MRR
- Low customer churn of c.3.1%
- High customer lifetime value of over $1,900
- Rapid year over year MRR growth for the period 2014 – 2016 with a c.14% CAGR
- Established and proven business history
- Low owner involvement
Yearly net profit: $104,000
Asking price: $356,000
Sold:
Advertising – Travel & Leisure – $1K gross/mo
In the News…
AdSense Native Ads
This week, Google announced the launch of AdSense Native ads, a suite of mobile ad formats designed to match the theme and style of your website. The purpose of the ads is to create a better overall user experience by being more attractive. They will be presented in three different categories: In-feed, In-article, and Matched content.
In-feed ads appear within feeds on your website. For example, a list of blog articles or products. In-article ads will appear in between paragraphs of your pages. For eligible publishers, Matched content is a content recommendation tool that will help you promote your content to visitors.
To get started with AdSense Native Ads, follow the steps on the Google AdSense Blog.
Walmart Vending Machines
Walmart’s online shoppers can now pick up their orders from vending machines. Customers can arrange their shipment ahead of time and visit a store with a self-serve kiosk tower. Earlier this year, Walmart built dispensaries for grocery orders.
This latest installment by Walmart is a move to improve efficiency over its e-commerce competitor, Amazon. With Amazon’s recent Whole Foods acquisition, it is now leveraging a network of brick-and mortar stores, which once differentiated the two companies.
Microsoft Layoffs
Microsoft is making some operational changes, announcing that it will make around 3,000 layoffs. As Microsoft shifted from applications sold on a per platform basis to cloud-based, this also shifted its sales and support models. Since the applications are automated through the cloud, a lot of work can be carried out remotely. Rather than on-site installations and field support technicians, there will most likely be a migration to cloud support.
Jack Gold of J.Gold Associates predicts that Microsoft employees that usually deal with on-site solutions will shift to cloud-based solutions, and will be let go if not applicable. Gold sees this internal restructuring as a positive indication that Microsoft is rapidly moving to the cloud. As a Microsoft customer, you can expect more migrations in the future that will most likely improve efficiency and be more convenient to use.