Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Break The Chain
A new antitrust bill on the Hill is going straight for Google’s jugular.
On Thursday, a group of mainly GOP senators led by Mike Lee (R-UT), with some Democrat support, introduced the Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act, which aims to prevent businesses from owning more than one part of the digital ad ecosystem if they process more than $20 billion in digital ad transactions. If a company processes $20 billion or more through a DSP service, for example, it can’t also operate an SSP.
(The senators may as well have called this the “Google, We’re Coming for You” Act.)
Although Google has been playing both sides against the middle(men) for years, it reacted to the bill by, as usual, claiming to be the hero.
Google’s tools across the internet “help protect users from privacy risks and misleading ads,” a spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journal. Breaking up those tools, Google argues, could cause security issues, embolden low-quality data brokers and “handicap small businesses” during a time of heightened inflation.
Google’s claim sounds a lot like Tim Cook’s pushback against the Open App Markets Act, which would force Apple to allow sideloading from third-party app stores. Cook claims that it’ll be a security nightmare, while advocates say it will give startups and small fries a fighting chance.
But the line needs to be drawn somewhere. As much as Big Tech touts cooperation and “co-opetition,” a slew of secret deals suggest otherwise.
Continue reading »
