The trial with implications heard ‘round the world

In the latest Google monopoly news, the remedies portion of the adtech trial is later this month, on September 22. The predictions are swirling: Will the remedies be as robust as the DOJ’s proposal, or will we see another outcome similar to the Google search remedies? We are hopeful for lasting, impactful change for this monopolized market. Arielle will be there in real time, sharing updates at usvgoogleads.com in between protein shots.

The European Commission fined Google €2.95 billion for breaching EU antitrust rules earlier this month. Google’s ad business alone rakes over $265 billion per year – this is simply a slap on the wrist and "cost-of-doing-business" fine for Google, and is nowhere near the remedy many competition advocates were hoping for. We need to bring transparency to a system that has worked against publishers and advertisers for far too long.

You don’t gotta catch ‘em all

Would it be a Google report without news of a newly filed lawsuit against them? We think not. PubMatic, in a similar move to OpenX and People Inc., announced last week that it has filed a suit against Google. Pubmatic seeks to hold Google “accountable for their monopolistic practices in digital advertising”, with the end goal being to restore fair market conditions. People Inc. is bringing the publisher’s side to the conversation, with a story of how Google’s ad tech practices have reduced competition in content creation. OpenX and Pubmatic are each suing for the right to a free and fair adtech marketplace – because without appropriate remedies or judgment, Google's anticompetitive behavior will not change.

That's not all - this week, Magnite SSP joined in on the fun. Following their hint of an incoming lawsuit in August, Magnite has made good on its promise and announced that it, too, has filed a case against the Alphabet company for its anticompetitive practices.

Despite the goal not really being to catch them all, Google has caught 3 litigious cases following the adtech trial that declared them a monopoly.

In a fun turn, friend of fair ads, Ari Paparo was ahead of the game and had already registered the domain in case of a future Magnite lawsuit. Check out what happens when you visit magnitevgoogle.com!

In the world of Policy

Some exciting news, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) called for comment on their approach to regulating online advertising, and we jumped at the opportunity to offer a response.

As it stands, digital advertising is intrusive, but the trade off doesn't need to be effectiveness. We applaud the ICO for taking a look under the hood of the digital advertising ecosystem and seeking options that don’t compromise consumers’ privacy while benefitting to publishers and brands.

Separately, we joined in on the efforts to keep the planet healthier by championing for a healthier internet. The COP30 Presidency launched a Mutirão (Call to Action) to identify and amplify concrete initiatives that center information integrity in addressing climate change disinformation. We submitted the Building Better Online Businesses Act (BBOB) as a solution for change. We had previously introduced the bill in April before the Vermont State House Committee. Amongst other things, this Act will establish new transparency standards, which would address core financial incentives for the many adtech brokers who control how digital advertising is bought and sold online — putting our climate information integrity at risk.

We should expect privacy from our financial institutions. Check My Ads and over 40 other groups signed on and submitted a comment to the House Financial Services Committee for their request for feedback on current federal consumer financial data privacy law and potential legislative proposals. We have all received those notices in the mail: a flyer from our bank or credit card company explaining all the ways the company will disclose our data to other entities unless they explicitly opt-out. But these companies don’t make it easy to do so – users are “dark patterned” into giving away their data through deceptive design techniques, such as using ambiguous language or burying key privacy terms. One of the proposed remedies in this comment is an amendment to the Gramm Leach Bliley Act (GLBA), which would require financial institutions to obtain explicit opt-in consent for third-party data sharing.

Friends of Fair Ads

We’ve got friends in cool places doing cool things!

Canadian media is in jeopardy. Canadian Media Means Business (CMMB) dropped a first of its kind report detailing how 7.5 billion in Canadian advertising revenues have been redirected to foreign digital platforms. This large shift is already costing jobs, with nearly 170,000 folks employed in the media and advertising sector; this has the potential to be catastrophic to the Canadian economy. With 92% of digital ad dollars now going to non-Canadian platforms, Canada’s independence and voice in the media infrastructure are in jeopardy.

The folks over at Amnesty International published a new report highlighting the market power that Big Tech has — from search and social media to e-commerce and mobile operating systems, they have monopolized the market. The report calls attention to the human rights harms linked to Big Tech's dominance. Examples include the sale and collection of sensitive data collected on period and fertility tracking apps, and the labor rights abuses and workplace surveillance happening in data centers and Amazon warehouses around the world.

Amnesty International’s recommendations to halt these violations are on point — including the need to break up dominant firms where necessary, mandate data portability, and ensure competition enforcement is informed by human rights considerations. Cheers, friends.