In this weekly segment, ExchangeWire sums up key industry updates in media, marketing, and commerce from around the globe. In this edition: Amazonestablishes a new Local Ads team in a blow to rival Meta; tech companies campaign against a 'self-referencing law' that could hinder their marketpower; Twitter agrees to Musk's demands fordata following the billionaire's threats to abandon their deal; and Metafaces legal action for Instagram's role in causing a preteen's eating disorder.
Ecommerce behemoth Amazon has quietly begun hiring for its Local Ads team, a newly established crew focused on sourcing ads from city-specific ad companies.
According to Business Insider, job postings from Amazon refer to the Local Ads team as a rare opportunity to join a start-up business within the Amazon Ads team, and will help create a brand new business and revenue stream for Amazon Advertising. These workers will be tasked with bringing smaller, localised advertisers over to Amazon, a move that is likely to shake some of the giants larger competitors, namely Google and Meta.
As Amazon has historically worked with larger brands who can afford to pay a hefty premium for a slot on the site, smaller companies have typically flocked to platforms such as Metas Facebook and Instagram for advertising space. Meta has even benefited from its involvement with smaller advertisers, using the dependence small businesses have on its platforms to one-up competitors and stave off regulators. By Amazon announcing that it is turning its focus towards smaller companies, the ecommerce giant is not only venturing into a new avenue for its USD$31bn (24.7bn) ad business, but striking a major blow to some of its largest rivals.
Tech giants including Amazon and Alphabet are leading an intense campaign to prevent Congress from passing a new law to restrain their market power.
The American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which US senators approved in January of this year, would prevent large tech firms from using their market dominance to give their own products an advantage against competitors. Should the bill be passed by Congress, it is likely to open the door to a surge of new legislation that would reshape the US tech industry and rein in the power of large tech companies.
This is one of the most significant campaigns that we have run in recent years, said Matt Schruers, president of the Computer & Communications Industry Association.That is because there has never been such a serious proposal to undermine US competitiveness and put US users at risk.
The bill specifically targets Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, and Meta, and has received support from senators for both the Democratic and Republican parties, in addition to the Biden administration. The bill would prevent Google from listing its own products at the top of search results, in addition to banning Amazon from prioritising its online store over third-party alternatives.
The momentum behind the bill has raised alarm amongst tech giants, who are now rushing to preserve their market power. The Financial Times (FT) reportsthat executives from Alphabet, Amazon, and Apple have all personally spoken to members of Congress in an effort to block the bill. Google is also reported to have suggested a number of amendments to the proposed legislation, while Amazon has called on senators in Washington to oppose the bill on the basis that it could result in significant job losses.
Twitter has agreed to hand over data concerning fake accounts on the platform to Elon Musk after the billionaire threatened to rescind his offer to buy the company.
The microblogging site will give the Tesla-boss access to data comprising over five million daily tweets, a real-time record of tweets, the devices they were tweeted from, and details of the accounts that tweet, according to the Washington Post.
Twitters relinquishment of this data follows Musks threats to walk away from his USD$44bn (34bn) deal to buy out the social media site on Monday (6th June) unless the tech giant provides accurate data on fake accounts on the site. The entrepreneur has been publicly sceptical of the companys claim that bots account for fewer than 5% of its user base, which totals to 229 million globally.
In a letter addressed to Twitters chief legal officer, Musk stated he was entitled to conduct his own measurement of fake accounts, to enable him to prepare for transitioning Twitter's business to his ownership, and accused the company of intentionally "thwarting" his attempts to do so.
Twitter has maintained that it has and will continue to cooperatively share information with Musk to consummate the transaction in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement." The social media company added that it was still committed to the acquisition at the price and terms agreed in Apriland, according to reports, Twitters chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde told employees on Wednesday (8th June) to anticipate a shareholder vote on the deal as early as July or August of this year.
Meta is facing legal action over allegations that its image-sharing platform, Instagram, ignited an eating disorder, self-harming behaviours, and suicidal thoughts in a preteen girl.
Filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Monday (6th June) by the Social Media Victims Law Centre, the lawsuit concerns teenager Alexis Spence. Spence created her first Instagram account without her parents knowledge at the age of 11, despite the platforms minimum age requirement of 13. According to the case, Instagrams algorithm immediately exposed Spence to content glorifying anorexia and self-harming, causing significant damage to her mental health.
Now aged 19, Spence has been hospitalised for anorexia, anxiety, and depression, and is struggling to recover from self-harming behaviours due to what the complaint describes as, the harmful content and features Instagram relentlessly promoted and provided to her in its effort to increase engagement.
In support of its complaint, the lawsuit makes numerous references to the Facebook Papers, leaked documents from Meta exposing the firms awareness that Instagram worsens mental health and body image amongst its users, particularly teenage girls. Previously unpublished documents from the leaks in which the company referred to tweens as herd animals who want to find communities where they can fit in, have been cited by the case to prove Metas intentions to draw younger, vulnerable users to the platform.
If you look at the extensive research that [Meta] performed, they knew exactly what they were doing to kids, and they kept doing it, commented Matthew P. Bergman, the founder of the Social Media Victims Law Centre and representative for the Spence family. I wish I could say that Alexis case is aberrational. Its not. The only aberration is that she survived.
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The rest is here:
- Report Sounds Alarm Over Growing Role of Big Tech in US Military-Industrial Complex - Common Dreams - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big Tech's ad transparency tools especially X's are failing at their jobs, report finds - Mashable - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big Tech Taps AI Agents to Drive Revenue Growth - PYMNTS.com - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- National privacy standard eyed by Congress for data harvested by big tech companies Nebraska Examiner - Nebraska Examiner - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big Tech is on a generative AI hiring spree - Fast Company - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
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- Betting on US Big Tech? Top Earnings Reports to Watch in the Coming Week - FX Empire - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big Tech Earnings Are Just Around the Corner - Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) - Benzinga - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- WATCH LIVE: Will Cain holds panel to discuss Big Tech and Trump trial - Fox News - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Google fires 28 workers in aftermath of protests over big tech deal with Israeli government - The Bakersfield Californian - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big Tech offices are getting smaller and that spells trouble for landlords - Quartz - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Asking Big Tech to police AI is like turning to 'oil companies to solve climate change,' AI researcher says - Fortune - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big Tech Comes to Small Town: A Bitcoin Mining Story in Spur - CoinDesk - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big Tech loses its appetite for office space, adding to landlords woes - Inman - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Google restructure leads to job cuts - Mobile World Live - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- FTC's Lina Khan talks big tech monopolies on The Daily Show - The Ticker - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Digital public infrastructure will drive the future, not big tech: Amitabh Kant - BusinessLine - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big tech is downsizing work space in another blow to office real estate | Mint - Mint - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- UK Plans Talks With Big Tech to Limit Online Harm for Teens - Bloomberg - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Canada to Start Taxing Tech Giants in 2024 Despite US Complaints - Bloomberg - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- US quarterly earnings to feature big growth in tech-related companies - Reuters - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Our View: Big Tech: Google continues to harm news groups for its own profit - Mankato Free Press - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Deepfake victims must punish Big Tech because Congress wont - The Hill - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big tech kneecaps anyone researching it. The online harms bill needs to remove barriers to analysis - Policy Options - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Global future will not be driven by big tech but by India's DPI: Amitabh Kant - Moneycontrol - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Kids Code bills prompt epic showdown between regulators, activists and big tech firms - Biometric Update - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Tech Firms Retreating From Office Market - The Real Deal - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- UKs antitrust enforcer sounds the alarm over Big Techs grip on GenAI - TechCrunch - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Time for government to regulate big tech - ACS - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- UK Markets Authority Warns of AI Market Capture by Big Tech - BankInfoSecurity.com - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- 2023 Boosts Big Techs AI monopoly? Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, and others wield money power - HT Tech - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- Alphabet (GOOGL) and Meta Shows Power of Ads Over Subscriptions - Bloomberg - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
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- Mapping the Biggest Tech Talent Hubs in the U.S. and Canada - Visual Capitalist - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- Google, Meta, other tech giants slash DEI-related jobs, resource groups in 2023: Report - Fox Business - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- South Koreas proposed tech regulations would be a gift to China - The Hill - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- Outlook 2024: Big changes to expect in personal tech - The Indian Express - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- Big Tech Dumped $17 Billion Into AI Companies in 2023 Despite Frozen Market - The Messenger - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- Why OpenAI signals the start of the post-Christensen startup world - Tech.eu - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- Opinion | Lindsey Graham and Elizabeth Warren: When It Comes to Big Tech, Enough Is Enough - The New York Times - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- Globe editorial: Canada can't tackle Big Tech on its own - The Globe and Mail - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- July jobs report and more Big Tech earnings are in the week ahead after markets notch historic run for Dow - CNBC - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- A Setback in the F.T.C.'s Fight Against Big Tech - The New Yorker - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- Be strong in the fight against Big Tech, Canada - Canada's National Observer - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- Decoding volatility: Are big tech stocks as stable as we think? - CryptoSlate - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- Patients think their health data will be leaked and don't trust big tech ... - Contemporary Pediatrics - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Big Tech Earnings Season - Fagen wasanni - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- The problem with Big Tech's voluntary AI safety commitments - Emerging Tech Brew - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
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- Big Tech knows most Brits don't know how to protect their online ... - TechRadar - June 18th, 2023 [June 18th, 2023]
- The time for talk is over is time for action on data privacy - The Hill - June 18th, 2023 [June 18th, 2023]
- Meet the man calling out Big Techs climate hypocrisy - Corporate Knights Magazine - June 18th, 2023 [June 18th, 2023]
- Letter: UK watchdog's tough stance on Big Tech should reassure MPs - Financial Times - June 18th, 2023 [June 18th, 2023]
- Peter Thiel on Big Tech: A Throwback Lecture - Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence - June 18th, 2023 [June 18th, 2023]
- Big Tech Is Big Tobacco - The Lever - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
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- EY's Abandoned Split Exposes Obstacles to Big Tech Consulting - Bloomberg Law - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
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- Night School, Class 3: Big Tech vs the insurgents - Financial Times - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- MM View: The Big Tech monster is coming for you - but only if you let it - Money Marketing - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]