The European Union has announced a formal investigation into TikTok over allegations that it has breached obligations to protect minors. Specific problems cited by an E.U. official include “addictive design and screen time limits, rabbit hole effect, age verification, default privacy settings.” TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, could be fined up to 6% of its global turnover if found in breach of the Digital Services Act.
Walmart has agreed to acquire VIZIO and its SmartCast Operating System for approximately $2.3 billion. The acquisition should accelerate Walmart’s media business, Walmart Connect, allowing it access to VIZIO’s CTV advertising solutions. VIZIO’s device eco-system featuring the SmartCast OS boasts 18 million accounts, a growth of around 400% since 2018.
Meltwater, a provider of media, social and consumer intelligence, announced it is partnering with Microsoft on an integrated communications insights solution. The partnership will integrate the data from Meltwater’s listening tools with Microsoft’s AI-driven capability to deliver data “as dialogue.” Microsoft will use Meltwater as its provider of global intelligence, while Meltwater has made a multi-year commitment to Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform.
Customer intelligence platform Acxiom will collaborate with ActionIQ to deliver enhanced customer insights. ActionIQ’s CDP will integrate with Acxiom’s demographic, household, behavioral and preference data and with Acxiom’s RealID identity resolution solution. Acxiom experts will work with clients to customize and streamline ActionIQ.