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After Google lost its Search trial, the DOJ has proposed remedies, including divesting Chrome and Android. - 20 Nov
CMA has determined that Apple had engaged in anti-competitive practices by stifling browser innovation. - 22 Nov
Google faces a GBP 7 billion class-action lawsuit for allegedly forcing its Chrome and Search on Android-run devices. - 25 Nov
18 December 2024: Google is facing an antitrust lawsuit in Australia over its monopolistic ad tech practices. The lawsuit is a class action aimed at compensating impacted Australian publishers. [Exchange Wire]
17 December 2024: Netflix’s in-house ad tech stack will start rolling out in the US in April 2025. [Exchange Wire]
13 December 2024: Turkey's competition authority fined Google $75 million for taking advantage of its dominant position in the ad server services market. The antitrust body stated that Google has favored its own SSP over rivals. [Reuters]
12 December 2024: IAB TL rebrands its Seller-Defined Audiences spec to Curated Audiences to spur wider buy-in from the industry. [AdExchanger]
5 December 2024: The U.K.’s Competition Appeal Tribunal has allowed a class action lawsuit against Meta to proceed to trial. The lawsuit alleges that Meta misused its dominant position to harvest users' data for advertising purposes and seeks at least GBP 2.1 billion in damages. [Techcrunch]
4 December 2024: Experian acquires Audigent to strengthen its strategy for a future with limited cookies. [AdExchanger]
29 November 2024: Meta faces trial in Spain in late 2025 over a lawsuit filed by 80 media companies. It is accused of unfair competition in advertising and violating GDPR between 2018 and 2023. [Reuters]
29 November 2024: Canada's Competition Bureau is suing Google over alleged anti-competitive practices in online advertising. [Reuters]
25 November 2024: Google faces a GBP 7 billion class-action lawsuit over allegations it forced manufacturers that use Android as their mobile operating system to pre-install Google Search and Chrome. [Exchange Wire]
25 November 2024: DOJ and Google make closing arguments in the adtech antitrust trial; the judge's verdict is expected in early 2025. [AdExchanger]
25 November 2024: Google drafted a research report titled “Operation Black Walnut”, which considers the possibility of Apple creating an in-house search engine while serving ads across all of its inventory. It’s rumored that Apple may consider doing this if Google is legally forced to stop paying them an annual $20b check to use Google Search by default. [Business Insider]
22 November 2024: The CMA conducted a study on mobile browsers, revealing that Apple requiring other browsers to use the WebKit engine stifles innovation and limits competitive differentiation. Additionally, the study identified the search revenue-sharing agreement between Apple and Google as anticompetitive. The CMA recommends initiating proceedings to address these issues under the newly adopted Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers Act 2024. [Gov.uk]
21 November 2024: Google disagrees with the DOJ's proposed remedies after its Search trial, claiming they will stifle innovation, and hurt competition and consumers. [Google Blog]
See also: First-Party vs. Third-Party Cookies: What’s the Difference?
20 November 2024: After Google’s loss in the search trial, the DOJ’s official proposal involves spinning off Chrome, sharing data with rivals, and ending default search engine contracts with manufacturers. If these measures fail, divesting Android may follow. The remedies trial is set for April 2025. [Reuters]
19 November 2024: Microsoft voices concerns about the lack of feedback from the Chrome team regarding the adoption of Azure for bidding and auction services, thereby increasing the pressure for a response. [GitHub]
18 November 2024: India's competition watchdog has fined WhatsApp $25.4 million and barred it from sharing user data with Meta units for advertising. [Techcrunch]
13 November 2024: FTC asserts that companies using Data Clean Rooms cannot automatically assume full data privacy compliance. [FTC.gov]
13 November 2024: Meta faces a trial that might lead to a divestiture of WhatsApp and/or Instagram. [Yahoo Finance]
