Almost all Webpals 450 employees in Israel have been let go after Google clamped down on its promotion of gambling sites. Parent company XLMedia has switched the focus to sports betting from offices in the UK and US.
In March Israeli Internet company Webpals Group closed its doors in Herzliya. The company did not officially shut down but remained with several dozen employees in Israel but management had decided to close the new offices in the Gav Yam building after only one year of operations, leaving the remaining employees to work from home or in shared work premises. The move cost Webpals a penalty to Gav Yam for ending a long-term lease prematurely.
Until three years ago, Webpals was one of the buzz companies in the industry - a large online company led by a charismatic CEO, which was repeatedly ranked as one of the best tech firms to work, and which would throw parties with Israel's top artists performing.
But Webpals fell out with Google and the management chose to move activities abroad and reduce its gambling operations, destroying any future for the company in Israel as an independent and leading center. At its peak, Webpals employed 450 people and between 2017 and 2019 made four acquisitions and looked set for major growth in Israel. But several events in the past two years sent the company in the opposite direction to most of the Israeli tech sector. Webpals sold many of the brands that it owned, gradually fired over 100 employees, saw several hundred more...
Read Full Story: https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-google-forces-webpals-to-wind-down-in-israel-1001416089
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