Contentsquare snaps up digital experience analytics rival Hotjar

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Contentsquare today announced it has acquired rival Hotjar, bringing together two major players in the digital user experience and analytics space. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded out of Paris, France in 2012, Contentsquare claims hundreds of enterprise clients — including Microsoft, Adobe, Verizon, and American Express — that use its AI and predictive analytics to derive insights into how end users are interacting with their websites and apps.

By monitoring customer engagement actions such as scrolls, swipes, and clicks, companies can garner deep insights into user behavior, identifying bottlenecks or problematic pages where the user dropped off and what this means in terms of revenue or conversion rates.

Founded in 2014, Hotjar is a similar proposition to Contentsquare in many respects, though it is aimed more at the SMB market, taking another approach with different use cases in mind.

“The Hotjar product is an incredible product to start the [digital] experience journey — you can be set up and ready to go in three clicks,” Contentsquare chief product officer Lucie Buisson told VentureBeat. “[But] as the business matures, you will need a more holistic view of experiences, with more use cases and capabilities, which is what Contentsquare provides. What both solutions provide and both companies have in common is the belief that everyone should be able to access customer insights, thanks to easy-to-use data visualization.”

Come together

By joining forces, the two companies are setting out to “serve the global market end-to-end,” targeting businesses of all sizes and supporting the digital transformation efforts of merchants as they optimize their properties for a world that has rapidly moved online during the pandemic.

Indeed, this acquisition comes just a few months after Contentsquare secured $500 million in funding at a $2.8 billion valuation and follows a flurry of activity in the space. Quantum Metric closed a $200 million tranche of funding at a $1 billion valuation, while just last month Full Story locked down $100 million at a $1.8 billion valuation. Yesterday, Amplitude revealed a 57% growth in revenue as it prepares to go public on the Nasdaq.

“COVID has accelerated digital transformation — digital competition is fierce, every product is one click away,” Buisson said. “The only way for brands to keep customers happy and loyal is to deliver an amazing experience. If your experience is human-centered and empathetic, the customer will trust you and stick with you. We are on the cusp of another digital evolution, and we want to continue to be at the forefront — [the] future of engagement has a heavy digital component and there is much to learn from how people behave.”

While the new joint company will open Contentsquare to businesses of all sizes, it will also help it better serve existing (and new) enterprise customers by pooling the collective data and resources from each business.

“The fact that we will share these lessons is important and valuable to all customers,” Buisson added. “Being able to analyze data from companies of all sizes and industries allows Contentsquare and Hotjar to hone innovation to meet market needs as they evolve. We will have a more holistic vantage point by working together. Making our AI smarter will be key in expanding predictive capabilities and in further transforming the way experience stakeholders work. Digital consumer behavior is forever evolving, and being able to detect behavior trends and better understand needs and intentions will enable better experiences that more closely reflect the expectations of today’s consumers.”

The new combined entity will boast a 1,000-person workforce, and though the two companies will pool their respective expertise, they will continue to operate independently in the immediate future.