Home Ad Exchange News Pompeo Threatens TikTok Ban; Google Search Revenue Could Drop Further

Pompeo Threatens TikTok Ban; Google Search Revenue Could Drop Further

SHARE:

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.

Clock’s Ticking

TikTok is beefing up its army of lobbyists after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatened to ban the app along with other Chinese social media platforms on Monday. TikTok, which is growing like gangbusters in the United States, is bringing on five lobbyists with experience in privacy, defense and politics to resist scrutiny of its ownership by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, CNBC reports. The Trump administration has been dragging TikTok into its ongoing spat with China since last year, when the US Committee on Foreign Investment began an inquiry into whether TikTok shares data about its users with the Chinese government. And TikTok’s regulatory woes don’t end in the United States: The app was recently banned in India and pulled out of Hong Kong after China imposed its new security law on the city.

Searching For Revenue

Google will take a 7% revenue hit thanks to declining search investments, according to estimates from Needham. The firm lowered its previous forecast, which predicted a 5% revenue hit, after speaking with sources and reviewing similar predictions from eMarketer in June. Google’s revenue will grow 2% to 3% overall for the year, with declines driven by travel, auto, media, entertainment and retail brands, which will remain weak “until COVID-19 is controlled enough that the economy strengthens and consumer demand returns,” Needham analysts said. Consumers are spending less during the crisis, thus lowering advertiser ROI from search, CNBC reports. Plus, Google is losing search share to Amazon as more consumers shop online during the pandemic. These factors amount to a “structural attack against Google’s search product,” the analysts said.

In Your Face

Progressive groups are hammering Facebook over its failure to respond to misinformation and hate speech. The Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP and other US civil rights groups held a Zoom meeting with Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg and other Facebook execs that ended in disappointment for those organizations, which felt Facebook wanted an “A for attendance” without addressing their concerns, The New York Times reports. And The Democratic National Committee assailed Facebook for its “unkept promises” following the 2016 election, such as a rigorous fact-checking program, according to The Washington Post. Conservative voices such as President Trump and Ben Shapiro, who are regularly the top performers for Facebook news posts, are given passes for hate speech and for breaking policies on inflated organic reach.

But Wait, There’s More!

You’re Hired!

Must Read

The Trade Desk Maintains Its High Growth Rate And Touts New Channels

“It’s hard not to be bullish about CTV when it’s both our largest channel and our fastest growing,” said The Trade Desk Founder and CEO Green during the company’s earnings report on Thursday.

After The Election, News Corp Has Harsh Words For Advertisers Who Avoided News

News Corp’s chief exec blasted “the blatant biases of ad agencies and ad associations,” which are “boycotting certain media properties” due to “personal political prejudices.”

LiveRamp Outperforms On Earnings And Lays Out Its Data Network Ambitions

LiveRamp reported an unexpected boost to Q3 revenue, from $160 million last year to $185 million in 2024, during its quarterly call with investors on Wednesday.

Privacy! Commerce! Connected TV! Read all about it. Subscribe to AdExchanger Newsletters
Google in the antitrust crosshairs (Law concept. Single line draw design. Full length animation illustration. High quality 4k footage)

Google And The DOJ Recap Their Cases In The Countdown To Closing Arguments

If you’re trying to read more than 1,000 pages of legal documents about the US v. Google ad tech antitrust case on Election Day, you’ve come to the right place.

NYT’s Ad And Subscription Revenue Surge As WaPo Flails

While WaPo recently lost 250,000 subscribers due to concerns over its journalistic independence, NYT added 260,000 subscriptions in Q3 thanks largely to the popularity of its non-news offerings.

Mark Proulx, global director of media quality & responsibility, Kenvue

How Kenvue Avoided $3 Million In Wasted Media Spend

Stop thinking about brand safety verification as “insurance” – a way to avoid undesirable content – and start thinking about it as an opportunity to build positive brand associations, says Kenvue’s Mark Proulx.