Howl Sells Its Creator Division to Taboola's Connexity
TL;DR: Affiliate-commerce platform Howl has sold its creator division to Taboola's Connexity, refocusing on publisher relationships — a telling signal that the creator-commerce gold rush is entering a harder, consolidation phase.
The deal
Howl, a platform connecting brands, publishers and creators for affiliate commerce, has divested its creator business to Connexity, the commerce arm of Taboola, according to Adweek. Howl is refocusing on its publisher relationships, amid reported challenges around consistent creator payments.
For Taboola's Connexity, absorbing a creator division deepens its commerce play; for Howl, shedding it is a bet that publishers, not creators, are where its durable value lies.
Why this matters beyond one deal
The creator economy has been sold as an unstoppable growth story, but running the plumbing beneath it — payments, tracking, reconciliation across thousands of creators — is hard, low-margin work. This divestment is a reminder that infrastructure is where the pain, and the consolidation, shows up first.
When a specialist decides creators are someone else's problem and retreats to publishers, it signals that the easy money in creator commerce has been made, and the market is sorting into who can actually operate at scale profitably.
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Expect more consolidation like this. As creator marketing matures, the fragmented middle layer of tools and platforms will collapse into a few players with the balance sheet to handle payments and measurement reliably.
For brands, the lesson is to scrutinise the operational health of your creator-commerce partners, not just their pitch decks. The plumbing failing quietly is a bigger risk than the creative underperforming loudly.
What marketers should watch
If you run affiliate or creator-commerce programs, ask hard questions about how reliably your platform pays creators and reconciles sales. Payment friction is where these relationships break, and it reflects on your brand.
And treat platform consolidation as a planning input. Building your creator strategy on a shaky intermediary is a risk; favour partners with the scale and stability to still be standing in two years.
Quick FAQ
What did Howl sell?
Howl sold its creator division to Connexity, the commerce arm of Taboola, and is refocusing on publisher relationships.
Why sell the creator business?
Running creator-commerce infrastructure — especially consistent payments across many creators — is hard, low-margin work, and Howl is concentrating where it sees more durable value.
What does it signal for the creator economy?
It points to a consolidation phase where fragmented tools collapse into a few players able to operate payments and measurement profitably at scale.
The creator economy's growth story is real, but the plumbing beneath it — payments, tracking, reconciliation — is brutal, low-margin work. When a specialist retreats to publishers, it's telling you the easy money has been made. Brands should vet their partners' operational health, not just their pitch decks. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
In creator commerce, the plumbing fails before the creative does — vet your partners on how reliably they pay and reconcile, because that operational health is now the real risk.
How do you vet your creator-commerce and affiliate partners? Tell us what you look for.
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Adweek.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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