Fresh off last month’s loss in its search market anti-trust case, Google yesterday started a federal anti-trust trial related to its digital ad business. The outcome could restructure a major portion of the industry. Adding to the fun, the UK Competition and Markets Authority announced its own anti-trust charges against Google’s ad business. UK fines could reach 10% of Google’s annual worldwide turnover.
Salesforce’s Dreamforce mega-conference is next week and the company’s publicity elves are already working overtime. In the first of what are sure to be daily announcements this week, the company announced 100+ industry-specific prompts, data models, and AI capabilities across its fifteen industry clouds. It also launched an AI Use Case Library to house its industry-specific AI offerings.
The previously-impenetrable protection that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides to social media publishers has begun to crack in the face of attacks on big tech in general and TikTok in particular. An appeals court has ruled that TikTok can be sued over algorithms that recommended harmful content to a ten-year-old. If it stands, some observers see the ruling as almost entirely gutting Section 230 protections.
CDP and marketing cloud vendor Zeta Global announced an agreement to purchase LiveIntent, which helps companies do email-based advertising. The deal will let Zeta expand its identity graph, enter the publisher monetization business, and accelerate its mobile and retail media products. Zeta will pay $77.5 million in cash and $172.5 million in common stock, with potential for additional payments based on performance.