GARM on ice; what if everyone continues to default to Google?

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Stabbing a bird

The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) informed members on Thursday that it was suspending the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative. The decision comes after X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced an antitrust lawsuit against GARM on Monday for allegedly colluding with advertisers to boycott the platform. X’s new management says this explains why revenue has fallen by half since it was acquired and rebranded from Twitter.

Well-known brands have left in a mass exodus since Elon Musk took over amid reports of hate speech, misinformation and other brand safety violations. That’s why advertisers themselves say the lawsuit is baseless, Business information reports. But they also say legal action would hamper WFA efforts by draining resources.

Whatever the rationale, Elon Musk has encouraged other media companies that have been “systematically boycotted by advertisers” to sue on the same grounds. This week, Rumble, a conservative video and website hosting service, filed a copycat lawsuit against WFA that also involved GroupM, the ad-buying arm of WPP.

New search, same Google

What will happen to search traffic that defaults to Google Search if Google can no longer pay for default status?

DuckDuckGo, a small search engine and a constant problem for Google, recently published its proposed solutions in response to Google’s antitrust decision (Thanks @Adam Kovacevich (to be republished). First, Google Search should not be allowed to be preinstalled on devices or to purchase any visible placement. Google should also provide access to its search and advertising APIs. And Google should be required to provide the click and query data that Google proposes to eliminate in the EU, writes Kamyl Bazbaz, senior vice president of public policy and communications at DuckDuckGo. “Google Search enjoys enormous distribution and scale advantages that no competitor can access in a reasonable time frame, so new entrants should have access to them.”

While Google pays for the privilege of ranking search results at the top, there is another reason Google has distribution everywhere: better data and search systems.

During the trial, Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president and head of services, stated that “Microsoft could not offer any price” to replace Bing with Google as the default search engine because it is inferior.

Proximoron

Google reportedly cancels YouTube campaign promoting Instagram Meta to teens after details were revealed leaked to FT.

The campaign targeted users marked as “unknown” on Google’s advertising platform, and according to FT sources, this target group consists of people under the age of 18.

Google marks users as unknown if it does not have data on their age, gender, income, etc. The FT reports that it analyzed emails in which Google representatives directed a campaign to an unknown group of recipients, which was the equivalent of targeting teenagers.

Google has introduced safeguards to prevent YouTube ads from targeting children and teens as part of its 2019 FTC settlement. However, she was accused of violating her own principles in Adalytics report from last summer.

Meta launched the campaign with Publicis subsidiary Spark Foundry in 2023. The FT reports that in an email from Spark, Google asked for a campaign proposal, with the primary target group being teenagers “aged 13 to 17.” Google won the bid by advertising its engagement with that group.

Google says its protections worked for the Meta campaign because it did not include any users known to be under 18. But it promised to “reinforce” that its sales representatives should not advise marketers on how to circumvent its rules.

But wait, that’s not all!

Disney could owe another $5 billion for Comcast’s minority stake in Hulu if the third-party valuation matches NBCU’s valuation of the streaming service.Deadline)

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is launching an investigation into Amazon’s funding of generative AI startup Anthropic.WSJ)

What Chrome’s Change in Approach to Third-Party Cookies Means for the Growing Retail Media Market (Digi Day)

Smokey Bear, the longest-running social media spot in American history, turns 80 this year. (Advertising Week)

You’ve been hired!

Panera Bread names Mark Shambura as chief marketing officer. (The Age of Advertising)