J2 Global announces five acquisitions; Snap Inc. ad costs drop; Netflix totals 130 million subscribers

J2 Global Acquires Five Companies

Hollywood-based internet services firm J2 Global Inc. announced Oct. 16 it acquired five new companies over the last quarter, including Fla.-based medical technology company Prime Education Inc. and British digital marketing firm the Communication Corp., according to Socaltech. J2 Global already owns Mashable, IGN, and PCMag, all technology-focused media companies.

7 Million Subscribers Added By Netflix

According to Netflix’s third quarter earnings report, the company has added roughly 7 million subscribers to date, bringing its total subscription count to 137 million. The Hollywood Reporter writes that the majority of this growth was international, whereas only 1.9 million subscribers were added in the United States. Netflix, based in Hollywood, was trading up four percent after this announcement Oct. 16, at roughly $340 per share.

Snap Inc. Ad Platform Lowers Costs Per Acquisition

Digiday’s recent analysis of Snap Inc.’s advertising methods concludes that the price per ad is decreasing for advertisers in what could be a welcome sign for the struggling Venice tech firm. The company’s targeted advertising platform, Pixel, was created and deployed on Snap Inc.’s Snapchat app June 2018, and since then companies have reported up to 45 percent lower costs-per-acquisition. Because of this, certain advertisers are pivoting from costlier (albeit more developed) targeted ad platforms such as Facebook Inc.’s in favor of increasing their budget with Snapchat.