“The platforms hired people to undermine my credibility to conservative news media. “I don’t know if it was payback or to try to weaken my position as a regulator, but they also tried to go after my kids. “The platforms are really concerned about this legislation. They see it as the first domino."

eSafety chief says Big Tech smear campaign went after her kids

Publishers will lack the courage to cut ties with Google without a full break-up

Journalism’s warrior taking the fight to DC and tech’s doorstep

Meta, Insta and WhatsApp saved from break-up - and it can thank TikTok

After an 18 month investigation, the numbers are in, and they’re mindblowing!

The Scotch & Watch World Tour rolled into Madrid as we took the rage on stage and brought the heat. 🇪🇸🔥🥃 It was standing room only as we shared hot takes and bold predictions on media, tech, and AI with OpenAI, The NY Times, The Atlantic, Time, Semafor, and more.

I just presented a huge idea to the board of global publisher industry group FIPP in Madrid. If they take it, it’ll change the trajectory of media.

Big post on the invisible menace that's locking up most of the web. open.substack.com/pub/rickysut...

Who's being taken for a ride here?

This looks like a signal for how readers will be able to interrogate the news in the future...

Google’s a 3x monopolist and Judge Leonie Brinkema will deliver a ruling before Christmas that will determine the economics and direction of global digital advertising. Yesterday, the final word went to Matthew Wheatland of The Daily Mail. He’s no mug, and that’s why he didn’t miss...

This is the post that began it all. The world first study into the impact of AI Overviews revealing unseen data on its impact as it passed from beta trial to traffic killer. The data within is now the backbone of an EU action to compensate publishers for the damage.

Has newsletter veteran Sam Shedden hit on an answer to reviving local news using Substack?

In August 1973, a masked gunman stormed into a bank and fired a machinegun into the ceiling. It escalated into a six-day siege that would change psychology, policing, and the English language forever. Yesterday, we saw a frightened publisher do the same thing at the Google break-up trial…

The world has many great mysteries. Big Foot. The Bermuda Triangle. Why autocorrect thinks my name’s Ticky. And why Google’s ad avails are always so very wrong. Yesterday, in court, Google was finally forced to try to explain itself, under oath, with a US$790 billion digital ad empire on the line.

Chris and I dive into two trials chasing the same goal: Cracking open Google’s black box. If you depend on ads for monetisation on the open web, these will decide your future. And the kicker? Google’s already whispering that the open web is dead. We’re here to find out if that’s true...

The US Department of Justice is locked in courtroom theatre trying to convince a judge to dismantle Google's ad monopoly. But Europe isn’t bothering with theatrics. It's passed laws that mean it doesn’t need to wait. The deadline is November 5. Bonfire night. A date famed for delivering fireworks.

The future of digital advertising and whether publishers or Big Tech get the spoils is now being decided by a judge...

Most lawyers have been cautious about their feelings following Google’s soft verdict after losing the search antitrust trial. Former FTC and DoJ enforcer John Newman hasn’t. He’s been outspoken and unequivocal. And he has some suggestions…

Two Meta safety researchers have warned a US Senate committee that it covered up child harms in its VR products. Here, the former director of Horizon Worlds tells me what really goes on behind the social media’s marketing spin…

Ten tech giants on the S&P are now worth more than the other 490 combined. Now a court’s decision not to break-up Google has handed it the key to the AI future, risking a Big Tech bubble. If it bursts, the impact will destroy one in eight jobs. This is how. open.substack.com/pub/rickysut...

The antitrust chief who nailed Google as a 3x monopolist has spoken. "Google would be unwise to declare victory. The game isn’t over," he said. "Later this month, a court will decide whether Google’s ad system should be broken up. That’s another wide-open shot. My advice: Shoot the damn puck."

Two courts. Two rulings. One winner, and a clusterf*ck for the rest of the world.

🚨 About to go live: Chris Duncan and I on Scotch & Watch diving into the Google search ruling. lnkd.in/gb_ZCkgT What’s at stake? Just journalism, AI, democracy… and the future.

Who would’ve thought the seven-year trial over Google’s $2 trillion monopoly would come down a frog and two lily pads…

The sneaky $26 billion backroom deal between Apple and Google is about to be unwound, and it'll shoot a 17.5 per cent hole in Apple's profits. It will impact all of us too because Apple needs a new route to direct 400 billion search queries a year from iPhone users.

Death by design: The murder that could break Meta's algo open.substack.com/pub/rickysut...

You've heard the scandal about how Meta's training its AI. Now hear it from a Meta director turned whistleblower in her own words...

Is Perplexity a real contender to buy Google Chrome?

How to get a deal with OpenAI from a guy who's done one.

A thought for publishers eyeing those shiny AI deals… 99% of the world’s information isn’t published yet - because 99% of the world’s news hasn’t happened. So what’s the rush? rickysutton.substack.com

Small maybe, but mighty - definitely...

Good, bad, or just feeding the trillionaires?

We're just weeks now from the Google break-up ruling, and this guy holds the balance of power...

Hey... Imagine there's a business that's worth tens of billions, generates 80% profits, that's up for grabs for $1 and only requires you to keep reporting the news. Would you be interested? Subscribe for more for free. rickysutton.substack.com

"There will be a mass extinction in publishing. I'm also a believer that there's going to be proliferation because you're going to be able to start exciting businesses with very few people with AI." rickysutton.substack.com

When you get that supportive note from a new paying sub, it means SO much. ❤️ 🤟 Do you think they even know? rickysutton.substack.com/p/leading-gl...

Respected attorney Megan Gray reveals: “The DoJ did not start thinking seriously, or realistically, about the remedy, until well after the trial had kicked off. “Now what we have is a buffet of remedies and almost a Hail Mary approach to try to address Google's monopoly.” This is a can’t miss…

A 6ft 6in basketball playing judge will now decide the fate of social, digital ads, privacy, and define the future of the daily clicks and shares of almost four billion people…

My word for the day is "unprecedented".

Google shares popped on the news after a recent rout, but deep in the numbers were ominous signs for publishers and the open web that relies on Google’s programmatic ad network. It's now sharing less than it has in half a decade...

The political subcurrents behind Meta facing break-up are becoming clear. FTC chair Andrew Ferguson told Fox Business it's about politics, politics, the people, economy, and oh, politics again. Meta's 3.3 billion users give Zuck the power to sweep or keep any President. Now fear is a weapon.

Apple stocks are crashing today as US tariffs dump huge levies on China. And that's the heart of the iPhone supply chain. I warned this was coming back in January. If these are things you need to know, subscribe to the Future Media newsletter.

Meet the exec tasked with screwing up Google search, starting with putting it behind a paywall...

EXCLUSIVE: Are you listening to the Future Media podcast yet? If not, you're missing out. Today, for the first time, the lawyers leading $20 billion in class actions for publishers against Google break their silence to explain their case, how to join, and how it will rewrite the digital economy...

My favourite ever post... What would Steve Jobs and Aristotle agree and disagree on about if I taught AIs their personalities?

Does this ring a bell with anyone? Anyone?? #ffs. Join our new pod on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Substack, or wherever you get your pods, where we bring truth to power and light to those nasty little dark corners... lnkd.in/gj7hsBpv

Are you a munchkin or a flying monkey in 2025's great AI sales drive? This post can give you a clue...

Breaking. open.substack.com/pub/rickysut...