This should be great. @ariellesgarcia.bsky.social and I bonded during the DOJ trial and we’ll geek out on the remedies etc.

#USvGoogleII adtech antitrust remedies trial witnesses and exhibit lists are up! DOJ witnesses and an excerpt from the exhibit list are below, showing quite a few documents referencing code-named projects and a 2023 “sell-side separation scoping” document.

More than 200 data providers sell segments on the Marketplace, which LiveRamp has claimed give insights into “700 million consumers worldwide.” “What average person knows that LiveRamp exists?” @ariellesgarcia.bsky.social said.

⚡ In less then an hour the Sen Judiciary Cmty will discuss how we can break up entrenched power & bring transparency to the heart of the internet economy - efforts that are crucial to preserving a healthy democracy where no single entity holds outsized influence over public discourse & our data.

With the support of @checkmyads.org's advocacy, Senator Warner (D-VA) sent letters asking the FTC and DOJ to investigate 3 ad verification firms - DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Science, HUMAN - for deceptive advertising and charging the federal government for services not delivered.

Extremely proud listening to @ariellesgarcia.bsky.social testify before the VT legislature on the privacy harms posed by adtech middlemen. “The false promise of precision targeting only props up the tangled web of adtech middlemen not small businesses.” 🔥🔥

Systemic failures meant Google and others put ads from US Homeland Security and others on websites containing child abuse. The sites were well known and had been censured by government watchdogs for years. I’m joined by @ariellesgarcia.bsky.social to discuss whether self-regulation has failed.

We at @checkmyads.org filed a complaint with Trustworthy Accountability Group ("TAG") regarding their certified vendors transacting and monitoring ads on CSAM. We also included our broader questions and recommendations regarding TAG’s standards and practices. checkmyads.org/check-my-ads...

Thank you to @kendrabarnett.bsky.social of @adweek.bsky.social for her fantastic reporting, as always. 1. www.adweek.com/media/ad-buy... 2. www.adweek.com/media/senato...

Today, Congress sent letters to CEOs of Google, Amazon, Integral Ad Science, DoubleVerify, Media Rating Council, and TAG demanding answers about their roles in monetizing a website known to host CSAM since 2021. www.blackburn.senate.gov/2025/2/issue...

🚨 EPIC and Enforce (@iccl.bsky.social) urged the FTC to investigate Google’s Real-Time Bidding (RTB) data in the first ever complaint under PADFAA, the new national security data law. 🧵 Read the complaint here: epic.org/wp-content/u...

Today, on “The Gilded Paperweight”: If most large IPG clients "that have Acxiom manage their 1p data use its ID tools, incl. Real ID, and rTag" isn't it odd that the fall ‘23 instance of Real ID didn't generate any rev that Acxiom EVP of Identity was aware of in his Sept ‘24 Adstra deposition? (1/3)

Sorry this wasn't the policy before now, Dec 2024?! "The updated policy clarifies and centralizes how we prohibit certain activities to better protect users, such as not allowing ads that simulate operating system warnings with the intention of deceiving users." support.google.com/marketingpla...

Not sure what makes me scarier: my deadlift, or the fact that I, of my own free will, shared photos of myself in yellow Minion socks, knowing they'd be published. Shoutout to @thisiskis.bsky.social of @adweek.bsky.social for featuring me in their Off the Clock series. www.adweek.com/brand-market...

“On November 25, one day before police found Balaji’s body, a court filing named the former OpenAI employee in a copyright lawsuit brought against the startup.”

This was a fun one. Thanks to @adtechgod.com for inviting me to share my hot takes on one of my favorite topics: holdcos abdicating their duty to clients to make a quick buck.

Thanks to @adtechgod.com for having me on The Refresh to talk about the OMC / IPG merger. www.linkedin.com/posts/bernar...

A good way to stop Google and Meta from eating holdcos’ lunch might be to *not* funnel money into AI products or carry water for them to hit incentive deal targets. Not to double-down on scale for leverage to negotiate better short-term deals and peddle junk data.

Especially where the big plan is to allegedly increase the pool of dollars to funnel into principal trading and cut partner deals. Sounds like a good way to bolster dominance of big adtech firms, while simultaneously setting them up to eat your lunch.

The corporate consolidation of the advertising industry intensifies with the merger of two large advertising holding firms Omnicom and IPG, which have similar business models. I am always in favour of markets with strong competition and many firms, not less. www.reuters.com/markets/deal...

For everyone that needs to hear this, owning a third-party data broker does not miraculously make the data first-party. This is the same nonsense that was making its rounds in reporting about the Acxiom acquisition in 2018.

Selling IPG - for parts, or in whole - was always going to be the outcome. A riddle: How do you use a $2.3B paperweight to create shareholder value? Dress it up, and sell it to someone before they notice it's a paperweight.

Thanks to @thedrum.bsky.social for the opportunity to share my thoughts on implications of the FTC's latest enforcement actions & CFPB proposed data broker rule. TL;DR: real consent = less scale Have a read here, and see the quoted thread for more details.

2025 is going to be a big year for making a fair internet for people, advertisers, and publishers. This Giving Tuesday, we’re asking that you join us as a Checkmate to support the work we do. What work is that? Well, I'm glad you asked, hypothetical Bluesky user! Because this year alone ...

Early this year, I saw Gravy Analytics Privacy Chief boasting "industry-leading" privacy practices. I had questions about how Gravy & Venntel (gov't contractor subsidiary) was responding to FTC location data enforcement. I was swiftly blocked. We finally have our answer.

A must-read analysis by @ariellesgarcia.bsky.social of the closing arguments in the landmark antitrust trial case against Google's market dominance in the online advertising market. It is a challenging read. www.usvgoogleads.com/trial-update...

US v Google II Closing arguments today. 70min for DOJ-> 95min for Google-> 20min for DOJ. Having predicted this case as better odds than search case (Google already lost in August), nothing changed my mind today. I wrote down: influence/$, complexity, deception, and arrogance. /1

Full Closing Arguments Update: www.usvgoogleads.com/trial-update...

#USvgoogle closing arguments just ended. Some quick highlights. 1. Notable question/statement from the Judge Brinkema during Google closing arguments where she speaks to how Ohio v. Amex (re: 2-sided transaction platforms) initially had a "certain attraction," it ultimately became less attractive.

Headed back to EDVA for #USvGoogle Adtech closing arguments tomorrow. Update will be posted to USvGoogleAds[dot]com; subscribe to get it to your inbox. If planning to attend live, arguments are set for 10AM start. Would arrive early as there may be longer security lines to enter the courthouse.

Oh nice. Bye bye, broad match.

That other platform has become too predictable.

#USvGoogle search proposed remedies are up: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... Digging in now, but divestiture of Chrome is indeed in, and Android isn’t totally off the table.

I hope @theonion.com buys that too

KA-BOOM. So when Google and its proxies (see so-called Chamber of Progress), friendly academics and analysts continue to suggest Chrome has nothing to do with the case, please ask them how many days they were at the trial. /1

#USvGoogle Search: "Top Justice Department antitrust officials have decided to ask a judge to force Alphabet Inc.’s Google to sell off its Chrome browser in what would be a historic crackdown on one of the biggest tech companies in the world." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Kudos to @hardin.bsky.social for the @checkmyads.org crew starter pack. Follow us! go.bsky.app/6an5faf

👋 @dcnorg.bsky.social and h/t @michellemanafy.bsky.social this is a fabulous “starter” thread of starters packs for journalists on here!