Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Google Out
After August 25, 2025, web links that use the Google link shortener (as in, links with a “goo.gl” in them) will no longer work, per a developer blog.
This may not seem like a big deal, but it’s part of a growing trend of changes and deprecations that may individually register as an annoyance but add up to a major migraine in the aggregate.
And we aren’t talking about third-party cookie deprecation here. A lot of these changes are unforced.
Aside from removing the link shortener, earlier this year Google simply gave up on selling and hosting web domains. It shunted the publishers who used its service to Squarespace. That transition has gone poorly and left publishers vulnerable to hackers, according to Krebs on Security.
“Buy on Google,” the company’s checkout experience, also folded. If you were a customer, hopefully you remembered to download your data, because it’s straight-up gone as of last week.
And we can’t forget Universal Analytics – the popular, de facto analytics service for essentially the entire web – which, as of this month, finally force-shifted customers to the new Google Analytics 4 (GA4) dashboard, which is widely reviled.
Brainstorming A Deal
Outbrain is in talks to acquire or merge with Teads, an SSP and video-focused monetization platform, Business Insider reports.
No, really.
Outbrain has much to gain from Teads. Content recommendation companies are being scrutinized for funneling traffic to made-for-advertising sites. Outbrain’s shares, meanwhile, have dropped 76% since its IPO in 2021. Teads would diversify Outbrain’s business beyond its click-based ad revenue model and help Outbrain shed its chumbox image.
The question is how Outbrain could fund the deal. Beyond the drop in its stock price, Outbrain is the smaller of the two companies, with a market cap of roughly $231 million as of March. According to sources, Outbrain is most likely working with an outside backer, such as a private equity firm.
But Outbrain might require quite a chunk of change. Teads is owned by telecommunications company Altice, which is carrying an enormous multibillion-dollar debt burden that, as BI’s Lara O’Reilly observes, “could seriously weigh on Teads’ eventual sale price.”
The New Netflix
Netflix is parting ways with its closest ad industry liaison, Peter Naylor.
Naylor, a media veteran who held senior ad roles at NBCUniversal, Hulu and Snap before joining Netflix as VP of global ad sales in 2022, leaves the company amid upfront negotiations.
Naylor is the third senior ad exec to exit since Netflix first introduced ads in 2022. But this shake-up feels especially poorly timed, because it’s happening just as Netflix begins to realize its advertising ambitions and ad sales become a more meaningful revenue driver.
Media and ad execs familiar with the matter say Naylor’s personal touch schmoozing with the biggest national brands may now no longer be as good a fit for Netflix as the streamer dives headfirst into programmatic ad tech, Ad Age reports. Netflix is building its own ad tech, which it will test in Canada before rolling out more broadly next year. In addition to its partnership with Microsoft, Netflix is also rolling out direct connections with The Trade Desk, Google’s DV360 and Magnite this summer.
Meanwhile, Amy Reinhard, a long-time Netflix vet, replaced Jeremi Gorman roughly seven months ago as president of ads. Naylor reported to Reinhard. “The new boss is shaking things up and rebuilding with her own vision in mind,” one source familiar with the matter tells Ad Age. “These things happen.”
But Wait, There’s More!
Oracle agreed to pay $115 million to settle a consumer privacy lawsuit accusing the company of collecting personal information and selling it to third parties, including through its ID Graph product. [Reuters] (No wonder it unceremoniously ejected its ad business last month, which reportedly only made $300 million in 2023.)
Research suggests more US viewers plan to watch the Olympics on social media than on TV. [Business Insider]
There’s been a significant drop in the amount of content being made available to train and build generative AI models – and LLMs are feeling the loss. [NYT]
The Toronto Star launches micropayments. [Toolkits]
You’re Hired!
Pixability hires Matt Nash as SVP of EMEA operations. [release]
Azerion promotes Roxanne Harley to head of growth UK. [release]
Whalar Group names Emma Harman president of EMEA to lead regional growth. [blog]
