Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Poking The Bird
The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) told members on Thursday that it’s suspending its Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative. The decision comes after X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced an antitrust lawsuit against GARM on Monday for allegedly colluding with advertisers to boycott the platform. X’s new leadership contends this accounts for its revenue being cut in half since its acquisition and renaming from Twitter.
Big-name brands left in a mass exodus after Elon Musk took over amid reports of hate speech, misinformation and other brand safety violations. Which is why advertisers themselves say the lawsuit is baseless, Business Insider reports. They also say, however, that legal action would hinder WFA’s efforts by sapping resources.
Regardless of the rationale, Elon Musk has encouraged other media companies that have been “systematically boycotted by advertisers” to sue as well on the same grounds. This week, Rumble, a conservative video and web-hosting service, filed a copycat suit against the WFA, which also included WPP’s ad-buying arm, GroupM.
New Search, Same Google
What happens with the search traffic that defaults to Google Search if Google isn’t allowed to pay for default status anymore?
DuckDuckGo, a small search engine and a regular thorn in Google’s side, recently issued its remedy suggestions following the Google antitrust decision (h/t @Adam Kovacevich for reposting). For one, Google Search shouldn’t be allowed to be preinstalled on devices or purchase any kind of prominent placement. Google should also provide access to its search and ads APIs. And Google should be required to provide click and query data, which Google is proposing to eliminate in the EU, writes DuckDuckGo SVP for public policy and comms Kamyl Bazbaz. “Google Search benefits from immense distribution and scale advantages, which no competitor can have access to in a reasonable time frame so market entrants should have access to it.”
While Google pays for the privilege of premium placements, however, there’s another reason to consider why Google has distribution everywhere: its superior data and search systems.
During the trial, Eddy Cue, Apple SVP and head of its Services group, said “there’s no price that Microsoft could ever offer” to have Bing replace Google as search default, because it’s inferior.
Proxymoron
Google reportedly quashed a campaign on YouTube that promoted Meta’s Instagram to teens after details leaked to the FT.
The campaign targeted users labeled “unknown” in Google’s ad platform, an audience the FT’s sources claim Google knows is filled with people under 18.
Google flags users as unknown if it has no data about their age, gender, income, etc. The FT says it reviewed emails in which Google reps steered the campaign to target the unknown audience as a proxy for targeting teens.
Google introduced guardrails against targeting YouTube ads to kids and teens as part of an FTC settlement in 2019. But it was accused of violating its own rules in an Adalytics report last summer.
Meta launched the campaign with Publicis subsidiary Spark Foundry in 2023. The FT says an email from Spark asked Google to pitch for the campaign and that the primary audience was teens aged “13 to 17.” Google won the pitch by touting its engagement among that cohort.
Google says its protections worked in the Meta campaign’s case, since no users known to be under 18 were targeted. But it promised to “reinforce” that its sales reps should not advise marketers how to circumvent its policies.
But Wait, There’s More!
Disney could owe another $5 billion for Comcast’s minority stake in Hulu if a third-party appraisal matches NBCU’s valuation of the streaming service. [Deadline]
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launches an investigation into Amazon’s funding of generative AI startup Anthropic. [WSJ]
What Chrome’s third-party cookie pivot means for the growing retail media market. [Digiday]
Smokey Bear, the longest-running PSA in American history, turns 80 this year. [Adweek]
You’re Hired!
Panera Bread names Mark Shambura as chief marketing officer. [Ad Age]
