The big news yesterday was the heavily anticipated antitrust case that accuses Google of having an unfair advantage in search and online advertising.
The Justice Department's case argues that Google uses a network of illegal, exclusionary business deals which disadvantage smaller competitors, building an unfair advantage in search advertising.
The case is likely to continue under a Biden presidency. And if the government wins out over Google, the company could be forced to restructure or possibly separate parts of its business.
It's been open season on the tech giants lately, and the news is red meat for media companies and advertising sellers that say that Google, along with Facebook, have long had too much control over the advertising market.
Some are predictably rubbing their hands gleefully over the idea of a breakup, saying it could give advertisers more choice and give media companies a better shot at ad dollars.
But: Others like the News Media Alliance, whose members include all the major US newspapers, says the suit is just a start and doesn't address Google's control of adtech that harms news publishers.
And still others have pointed out that a breakup could cause chaos at ad agencies whose systems have become so entangled in Google's ad buying systems.
And: Google is unlikely to back down from the legal fight, which could stretch out in court for years.
Lauren Johnson reports that Kristi Argyilan, a longtime ad agency exec who's led Target's ad business for the past year is leaving at the end of the month while Target searches for a replacement.
Target is among retailers that are betting big on advertising as retailing's profit margins get thinner.
Her departure leaves a leadership gap Target will have to fill, but the bigger issue for Target may be that advertisers are looking for platforms with big e-commerce customer bases when deciding where to put their ad dollars, and Target's is much smaller than Walmart's and Amazon's.
From Lauren's story: "Our clients that sell in Target's brick-and-mortar stores love Target but their e-comm is not where it needs to be," said Laura Meyer, the founder and CEO of the Amazon-focused ad agency Envision Horizons. "I think it's going to take a massively expensive overhaul and investment to be able to create a more optimized, digital shopping experience."
Netflix's massive pandemic growth is slowing down, and it confirms analysts' concerns about the company's 2021 outlook.
The company missed its subscriber target in the third quarter, and faces questions about its ability to keep the production pipeline going and raise prices in an economic downturn. It's surrounded by media and tech companies including Disney, WarnerMedia, NBCUniversal, and Apple that are throwing up competing streaming video services.
But hey, Netflix has two CEOs to figure it all out, and two has to be better than one, right?
In a wide-ranging interview at Business Insider's Global Trends festival on Tuesday, Reed Hastings defended the company's dual CEO approach, comparing it to a family where there are two parents, saying, "if you've got two people that work really well together then it can be incredibly powerful."
He also talked about the battle for wallet share in streaming, the long term impact of the pandemic, and what excites him most about Netflix's future.
Stephanie Grisham, who served as chief of staff and press secretary to Melania, offered a window into her former boss's thinking as Donald's alleged affairs take center stage in the Manhattan trial
"So far as I know, you don't pay someone $130,000 not to have sex with you," the Utah senator remarked about the ex-president's payments to Stormy Daniels.
PoolDonald Trump just can’t help himself.Moments after a contentious hearing about whether Trump should be held in contempt for violating his narrowly worded gag order, the former president took to his favorite social media platform to trash the judge who holds his fate. “HIGHLY CONFLICTED, TO PUT IT MILDLY, JUDGE JUAN MERCHAN, HAS TAKEN AWAY MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH. EVERYBODY IS ALLOWED TO TALK AND LIE ABOUT ME, BUT I AM NOT ALLOWED TO DEFEND MYSELF,” Trump wrote on Truth Social
Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via ReutersThe Kremlin is reportedly scrambling to find a successor to Ramzan Kadyrov following reports that the Chechen leader has been diagnosed with necrotizing pancreatitis, a terminal illness, according to Russian media reports.Kadyrov, also known as “Putin's attack dog” or “Putin’s soldier” for his loyalty to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has visited Moscow Central Clinical Hospital regularly through the years to undergo procedures. He was allegedly diag
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
EDMONTON — The in-house decibel meter shot past 100 throughout the game. More than 1,150 hats — 14 bags full — were collected after Zach Hyman scored his third goal of the game. Just another raucous playoff night at Edmonton's Rogers Place, right? Not quite. The Oilers announced a sellout crowd for their 7-4 win over Los Angeles on Monday that opened a first-round playoff series with the Kings. Unoccupied seats, however, were noticeable throughout the arena. There was an entire row that was empt
