Episode 39 | B2B’s Biggest Stories of 2025 Recap: Apollo, Seamless, and the LinkedIn Crackdown

We are ending the year with a miniseries recapping B2B’s biggest stories in 2025 starting with one of the most talked-about B2B moments this year - LinkedIn removing company pages for major data providers like Apollo, Seamless AI, and other lesser-known rivals.   The move signaled something bigger: ⦁    A clear stance against tools scraping LinkedIn personal data ⦁    A warning shot to the B2B data ecosystem ⦁    And a reminder of how fragile platform-dependent distribution really is   What makes this story notable isn’t just the ban. It’s what happens after (and it isn’t all bad news).    In this episode, we break down: ⦁    Why LinkedIn made this move in 2025 ⦁    What the ban actually targeted ⦁    Why it didn’t slow buyer demand ⦁    What this means for B2B companies relying on platforms they don’t control   If you’ve been under a rock, this is the recap you need.    --- Connect with the hosts: Tim Davidson – linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41 Tas Bober – linkedin.com/in/tasbober Subscribe for more no-BS breakdowns of the internet’s wildest B2B moments. ---   Today's episode is brought to you by Exit Five. Thanks to Dave and the Exit Five team for being OG supporters of Notorious B2B. Tim and Tas have both been members since the beginning and get a ton of value from being part of this community. Join the top community of B2B marketers now at ExitFive.com and get access to one of the 30+ in-person events Exit Five is hosting in 2026. Also, we heard Dave is super jacked, a millionaire, a great father, a speed reader, he’s run 300 marathons, and donates over $1M a year to very important charities. ---   Also, special thanks to our friends at Vector - the only ad platform brave enough to say what we’re all thinking: native targeting is a scam. Vector lets you build audiences by name. Not “job title at tech company.” Actual people who clicked your ad, visited your site, or creeped on your pricing page. (Also, the branding has cute ghosties. What more do you want?) Check them out at vector.co and stop paying to show ads to your uncle’s dentist’s cousin. --- Finally, huge shoutout to Sahil, CEO of Spiralyze, the company that captures winning A/B tests from 78,000 websites. He kinda knows what works on B2B websites. This February, he's teaming up with folks like Anthony Pierri, Jess Cook, Rob Kaminski, Alina Vandenberghe, and our very own Tas Bober, to host Above the Fold - a workshop-style event designed to help you build a better website. No keynotes. No panels. Just hands-on, practical sessions you can actually use.  Join us in February. Get the details at spiralyze.com/abovethefold