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Israel’s Taboola Faces New US Antitrust Probe

 |  May 3, 2021

Israeli firm Taboola revealed in a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing over the weekend that it and other companies in the digital advertising industry are under investigation for antitrust violations by the US Department of Justice.

The criminal investigations involve hiring practices in the industry, which focuses on the recommendations the company makes for other online stories to read.

Taboola wrote in its F-4 filing with the SEC, before the company’s planned merger with ION, a SPAC company, that it does not believe it has violated the law.

Taboola only found out about the investigation last week, a few months after the decision on the SPAC merger was made.

A SPAC is a listed shell company without operations that raises money from investors with the goal of merging with a private company and taking it public.