Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Rebate and Switch
There’s already a lot to sift through among the many recently unsealed documents for the DOJ’s antitrust trial against Google – but one interesting tidbit has already surfaced. Namely, Google’s plan to pay agencies for purchasing certain types of media.
As Adweek reports, Google’s media rebate program wasn’t a secret. As AdExchanger reported at the time, it’s been around since at least 2016. (It’s not clear whether it still exists today.) But some of the finer details of that program – which included discounts, cash back and other financial incentives – haven’t been publicly available until now.
The documents outline both the types of media Google wanted to boost and how much it was willing to pay to advertisers in 2018, which was around $445 million total across several incentive programs.
Adweek’s sources theorize that these documents will serve as proof that Google has concrete, quantifiable influence over how brand media budgets are spent. However, we won’t know for sure what the DOJ’s plans are until the trial begins in earnest on September 9.
The Safety Dance
Cancel culture is ruining the media business, Business Insider reports – but not in the way you may think.
Brand safety concerns are having a noticeable financial impact on publishers that post anything other than feel-good fluff pieces.
What’s more, this issue cuts across both sides of the political aisle. Media buyers are afraid of enraging conservatives by appearing to care about things like diversity or LGBTQ people, but in 2016 it was liberal organizations leading boycotts against advertisers appearing on alt-right websites.
It’s gotten to the point that Time Magazine reportedly lost ad revenue on its 2023 Person of the Year feature – arguably the thing Time is best known for – because its subject, pop star Taylor Swift, talked about feminism in the interview.
Clearly, something needs to change. But so far the best anybody can come up with is forcing advertisers to spend money equally across right- and left-leaning publications, which would probably just make everybody mad.
Moderation In Moderation
Here’s another sign that brand safety and content moderation have become politicized: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized to Republicans in Congress for his company’s attempts to combat misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 presidential election, The Washington Post reports.
Zuckerberg sent a letter to Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, saying that Meta was “repeatedly pressured” by the Biden administration to censor certain content on its platforms related to the pandemic and also content about that now-infamous laptop owned by President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.
Zuckerberg says he believes it was “wrong” of the Biden administration to call for the removal of certain posts, echoing Republican criticisms. However, Zuckerberg stressed that any content moderation decisions were ultimately made by Meta.
The letter is Meta’s first public response to a lawsuit brought by 19 Republican attorneys general, charging that the Biden administration illegally pressured social platforms to censor conservative speech under the guise of fighting misinformation.
Going forward, Meta will wait to make a final determination as to whether a post contains misinformation before deprioritizing it, rather than proactively suppressing potentially false content.
Critics warn this change will allow falsehoods to flourish during the 2024 election. But House Judiciary Republicans trumpeted Meta’s decision as a “big win for free speech.”
But Wait, There’s More!
Surprise, ad industry professionals! According to a new study, you’re all depressed! [Campaign]
Some websites are still tracking people who said they don’t want to be tracked. [Adweek]
Gannett, accused last year of publishing AI-generated content on Reviewed.com, is shutting the entire site down. [The Verge]
Here’s a rare digital media success story: Gary Vaynerchuk-owned Gallery Media Group has been profitable since 2011 and expects to end this year with $50 million in revenue, mostly from sponsored social content. [Axios]
You’re Hired!
Goodway Group hires Rick Watrall as chief data and analytics officer. [release]
