Desperate Remedies
The European Commission (EC) announced a verdict in its antitrust suit regarding Google’s ad tech business the same week a judge passed down a set of remedies (keenly disappointing from a non-Google POV) for the DOJ’s Google Search antitrust case.
The EC found Google guilty of exercising a monopoly and fined the company 3 billion Euros ($3.5 billion).
It’s a deliberately eye-popping fine and the third such decision against Google at the hands of the commission.
Google has 60 days to propose a plan to end its self-preferential practices to the EC. But there’s an unbridgeable gap.
“At this stage, it appears that the only way for Google to end its conflict of interest effectively is with a structural remedy, such as selling some part of its ad tech business,” writes Teresa Ribera, the EC’s executive VP for Clean, Just, and Competitive Transition, in the release.
While outwardly bold, the statement leaves plenty of room for equivocation – “at this stage” and “it appears” are clear hedges.
Ribera also says the EC will regard the US District Court’s decision in the remedy phase of the DOJ’s Google ad tech antitrust suit later this month, when the commission considers its own potential remedies in 60 days.
Building ’Blox
Roblox is building a foundation for more game developers to earn meaningful in-game ad revenue.
At its annual developer conference on Friday, the gaming platform added a short-form video format where users can share gameplay clips in a TikTok-esque feed as a community-building tool. As of now, there’s no talk of monetizing these videos, but stay tuned.
Roblox is also increasing developers’ revenue share for Robux by 8.5%, meaning they get more money when they cash out the game currency.
And the discovery feed on Roblox’s homepage will now feature more sponsored placements.
Developers will have a self-serve platform to target these homepage placements to audiences that are likely to spend a lot of time – and a lot of Robux, the platform’s digital currency – in their games, Louqman Parampath, Roblox’s VP of ad product, told AdExchanger.
On the in-game ad front, Roblox is working with IAS and DoubleVerify to bring viewability and completion rate measurement to rewarded videos, Parampath said. He also teased new integrations to come focused on brand lift measurement, but did not name any specific partners.
Going forward, Roblox sees the homepage’s new self-serve audience-building feature as a way to boost ad revenue. Developers will eventually be able to target the homepage placements to players that are of interest to advertisers, Parampath said, potentially allowing creators (and Roblox) to grow revenue from in-game ads.
eVolution
eBay has survived the past 30 years of internet advancements. It’s not about to back down in the face of AI.
The ecommerce company is adopting the use of AI agents and AI features to make the sales process more personalized for buyers and easier for sellers. eBay admits that it hasn’t always been at the forefront of technological advancements – but “the AI era reset the clock for us,” Mazen Rawashdeh, eBay’s CTO, told The Wall Street Journal.
Since eBay’s offerings are often less standard than those of other ecommerce sites, AI is fundamental to creating a more effective search process, observed Deutsche Bank analyst Lee Horowitz.
In addition to an agent that buyers can converse with, eBay is now using AI to write code and fill in item descriptions and suggested prices – though the quality of the AI writing has been criticized by consumers.
Still, the changes have been paying off. Last quarter, eBay saw an over $1 million increase in year-over-year profit. “The investments they are making into their technology stack around AI are putting them in a position to take share in the verticals they’re focused in,” said Horowitz.
But Wait! There’s More!
The ad industry will never put to bed the rumor that phones are covertly listening to conversations in order to target ads. But no, this is not happening. [CNET]
While a federal judge ruled that Google won’t face major penalties in its search trial, a jury decided it has to pay $425 million in a class action suit over tracking user data without proper consent. [Reuters]
Anthropic will pay $1.5 billion to settle a copyright infringement lawsuit. Roughly, that works out to $3,000 for every book the company pirated to train its AI tools. [Wired]
Creators are being more transparent with their own pricing and influencer deals, boosting payouts across the board. [Digiday]
The NFL’s formerly commercial-free subscription streaming service RedZone will feature four 15-second picture-in-picture ads across seven hours of Week 1 programming – but the ad load “could change later in the season.” [Front Office Sports]
FanDuel Sports Network hops on the total audience delivery trend in TV measurement that combines streaming and linear data. [Sports Business Journal]
The convoluted rollout of NBCU’s and WBD’s spinoff streaming networks Versant and Discovery Global may mean WNBA, NHL, MLB and college sports fans will need both cable and streaming to watch every game. [Awful Announcing]
You’re Hired!
Devika Bulchandani will take over the role of chief operating officer at WPP; Laurent Ezekiel will take over Bulchandani’s previous role as Ogilvy global CEO. [Adweek]
