Is Amazon’s Sizmek acquisition really a threat to Google?
Following Amazon's acquisition of Sizmek's ad server and dynamic creative optimization platform, the company is now in a better position to compete with Google for advertiser dollars. AdExchanger evaluates the strategic possibilities of Amazon's new tech acquisition. (AdExchanger)
Firefox follows Apple in blocking third-party cookies online
Mozilla Corp.’s Firefox browser joined Apple Inc.’s Safari in blocking certain kinds of online tracking, leaving Google’s Chrome as the only major browser that doesn’t bar these tools by default. Going forward, new downloads of Firefox will automatically block third-party cookies. (AdAge)
US House lawmakers open antitrust probe into tech industry's biggest players, including Google and Facebook
House Judiciary lawmakers on Monday launched a sweeping antitrust investigation of the nation's largest tech companies, including Google and Facebook, opening a new front against an industry that's increasingly under siege in Washington and Europe. The bipartisan probe will explore whether big tech companies have amassed monopoly power and engaged in anti-competitive behavior by stifling, cloning or acquiring rivals or by giving an unfair advantage to their own products on their platforms. (Politico)
Behavioral ad targeting not paying off for publishers, study suggests
In one of the first empirical studies of the impacts of behaviorally targeted advertising on online publishers’ revenue, researchers at the University of Minnesota, University of California, Irvine, and Carnegie Mellon University suggest publishers only get about 4% more revenue for an ad impression that has a cookie enabled than for one that doesn’t. (The Wall Street Journal)
Big Tech’s antitrust problems are just beginning
In this perspective piece, the editor of the Global Competition Review, outlines how companies like Google and Facebook might be broken up after the US Government launched investigations this week. (The Washington Post)
Google faces privacy complaints in European countries
Google’s privacy woes are set to increase after campaigners on Tuesday filed complaints to data protection regulators in France, Germany and seven other EU countries over the way it deals with data in online advertising. (Reuters)
Time spent with mobile overtakes television, but TV remains dominant video platform
In another symbolic tipping point for the digital media economy, Americans' time spent with mobile devices has surpassed the time they spend on television sets for the first time this year. (MediaPost)
