The commerce platform Howl, which powers affiliate businesses by connecting content creators to retailers, quietly sold the creator division of its business to Connexity, a commerce platform owned by Taboola, in August.
Representatives for both companies confirmed the sale but declined to share further financial specifics.
The amount that Taboola, a publicly traded company, paid for the business is not large enough to have required disclosure in its quarterly earnings, according to a source familiar with the matter.
“We’re excited that Connexity will continue to invest in and grow Howl as the leading creator commerce platform in tech, gaming, and collectibles,” Howl founder Li Haslett Chen told ADWEEK.
For Howl, the sale comes as the affiliate platform once again faces accusations of late or delayed payment to both its publisher partners and creators, according to three publishers, two of which are owed money.
In 2023, Howl fell behind on payments to its publishing partners, racking up millions of dollars in delinquent invoices and bottlenecking a key source of publisher revenue, ADWEEK reported at the time. The overdue payments stretched back up to eight months and ranged from $20,000 to $900,000.
