Taboola-owned Skimlinks left without APAC head after Jade McDade exit
Jade McDade
Skimlinks is facing a leadership void in Asia Pacific after regional director Jade McDade’s departure, with its parent company Taboola declining to confirm whether a replacement will be appointed.
McDade first joined Skimlinks in April 2023 as leader of APAC and Japan, having previously spent more than a decade at News Corp overseeing its digital advertising operations.
She announced her departure on Linkedin at the end of last month, while an automated message from her email account redirected contacts to Dunia Silan, Skimlinks’ London-based senior vice president of revenue, noting that “a member of the team will respond shortly.”
“We value your partnership and look forward to continuing our work together,” the automated message added.
McDade was unreachable for comment when contacted by Mumbrella.
However, in her Linkedin post, she was “incredibly grateful for the opportunities I’ve had with the company — from travelling to places like Delhi, Singapore, LA, Bangkok, Phuket, and London, to attending countless industry events, and, most importantly, having a lot of fun along the way.”
“I’m truly appreciative of the amazing people I’ve worked with, both colleagues and external partners,” she added. “I’m especially proud of the growth we delivered together for our JAPAC partners, helping scale commercial performance and build long-term, strategic relationships across the region. I hope to continue working with many of you in some capacity in the future.”
Skimlinks is a content monetisation platform for affiliate links that was acquired by Taboola in 2021 as part of the link recommendation platform’s US$800 million (A$1.1 billion) purchase of its former owner Connexity.
At the time, the acquisition was described as a move to bring Skimlinks’ technology and publisher network into Taboola’s content recommendation ecosystem.
In a statement to Mumbrella, a Taboola spokesperson confirmed McDade’s departure, but added that “Taboola and Skimlinks are still very much committed to the APAC market, building relationships with the top publishers and advertisers in the region, and expect to announce what’s next for local leadership soon.”
Taboola Asia Pacific is led by Bangkok-based vice president Chanan Fogel.
Locally, the organisation has promoted Sydney-based partnerships director Shivani Pant to regional publisher director, APAC.
Her promotion came off the back of Taboola signing a second five-year deal Sky News Australia and an extension of its partnership with New Zealand’s Otago Daily Times.
