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⚠ Twelve Percent of Revenue Depends on TrackingModerate threat

Bending Spoons (BSP) — threat to the moat

Advertising went from a twentieth of revenue to an eighth in three years, in the same period the data it depends on started disappearing.

Advertising was 5% of revenue in 2023 and 12% in the first quarter of 20261, and $88.637 million in the second quarter2. It is now the second revenue line, driven primarily by AOL, Remini, and WeTransfer3.

Advertising revenue by quarter ($M)16.5Q1 202519.3Q2 202570.2Q1 202688.6Q2 2026Form 424B4 and the Q2 2026 financial statements; growth is mostly AOL
Four and a half times larger in a year.

Advertising of this kind depends on data the industry is losing. The filing lists the mechanisms: platform, legal, contractual, industry, and regulatory changes, such as restrictions on cookies and other tracking technologies, limitations on access to device identifiers, and requirements for user consent, may reduce the ability of advertisers to target or measure advertising effectiveness and may decrease advertising demand or pricing4.

The named regimes are many: the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation and the United Kingdom's, the Digital Services Act, the Online Safety Act, the California Consumer Privacy Act, California's Age-Appropriate Design Code, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, the CAN-SPAM Act and the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act5. The company also notes that certain of its products collect or process geolocation data, including precise or inferred location information6, which covers komoot, Tractive and MileIQ.

Most of the advertising is also sold at arm's length. Bending Spoons generates most of its advertising revenue through intermediaries such as programmatic networks and media agencies, and in those cases does not interact directly with advertisers7; it sells a portion directly, primarily on WeTransfer8.

Location data adds a second regime on top of the advertising one. The company says certain of its products and technologies collect or process geolocation data, including precise or inferred location9 information, which covers komoot's route planning, Tractive's pet trackers and MileIQ's mileage logging. Those are three of the businesses bought most recently, so the privacy exposure has grown with the portfolio rather than in spite of it.

Quarterly advertising revenue is the number to watch, because it reacts to privacy changes within a quarter or two. It went from $19.285 million in the second quarter of 2025 to $88.637 million a year later10, almost all of it acquired. Organic advertising weakness would show up as a flat line while the portfolio grows.

References
  1. ReportedAdvertising was 5% of revenue in 2023 and 12% in the first quarter of 2026, and $88.637 million in the second quarter.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business and MD&A sections on revenue by type and by geography. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedAdvertising was 5% of revenue in 2023 and 12% in the first quarter of 2026, and $88.637 million in the second quarter.
    Bending Spoons unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for the quarter and half-year ended 30 June 2026, Form 6-K exhibit 99.2 - income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, revenue disaggregation, debt note, segment note and the initial-public-offering note. — Q2 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedIt is now the second revenue line, driven primarily by AOL, Remini, and WeTransfer.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the audited consolidated financial statements, the Q1 2026 interim and the MD&A on results of operations and tax. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedThe filing lists the mechanisms: platform, legal, contractual, industry, and regulatory changes, such as restrictions on cookies and other tracking technologies, limitations on access to device identifiers, and requirements for user consent, may reduce the ability of advertisers to target or measure advertising effectiveness and may decrease advertising demand or pricing.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - Item 3.D risk factors and the notes on legal proceedings. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedThe named regimes are many: the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation and the United Kingdom's, the Digital Services Act, the Online Safety Act, the California Consumer Privacy Act, California's Age-Appropriate Design Code, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, the CAN-SPAM Act and the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - Item 3.D risk factors and the notes on legal proceedings. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedThe company also notes that certain of its products collect or process geolocation data, including precise or inferred location information, which covers komoot, Tractive and MileIQ.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - Item 3.D risk factors and the notes on legal proceedings. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedBending Spoons generates most of its advertising revenue through intermediaries such as programmatic networks and media agencies, and in those cases does not interact directly with advertisers; it sells a portion directly, primarily on WeTransfer.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business and MD&A sections on revenue by type and by geography. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedBending Spoons generates most of its advertising revenue through intermediaries such as programmatic networks and media agencies, and in those cases does not interact directly with advertisers; it sells a portion directly, primarily on WeTransfer.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business and MD&A sections on revenue by type and by geography. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  9. ReportedThe company says certain of its products and technologies collect or process geolocation data, including precise or inferred location information, which covers komoot's route planning, Tractive's pet trackers and MileIQ's mileage logging.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - Item 3.D risk factors and the notes on legal proceedings. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  10. ReportedIt went from $19.285 million in the second quarter of 2025 to $88.637 million a year later, almost all of it acquired.
    Bending Spoons unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for the quarter and half-year ended 30 June 2026, Form 6-K exhibit 99.2 - income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, revenue disaggregation, debt note, segment note and the initial-public-offering note. — Q2 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated October 20, 2026