Business
At Google Antitrust Trial, Documents Say One Thing. The Tech Giant’s Witnesses Say Different
Alexandria, Virginia – The judge who will determine whether Google has a monopoly on technology that connects buyers and sellers of online advertising must decide whether to believe what Google executives wrote or what they said on the witness stand.
This week, the Justice Department is winding up its antitrust lawsuit against Google in a federal courtroom in Virginia. The federal government and a coalition of states claim Google has established and maintained a monopoly on the technology used to buy and sell advertisements that show to people when they surf the internet.
Google counters that the government is improperly focussing on a very narrow slice of advertising — essentially the rectangular banner ads that appear on the top and right side of a publisher’s web page — and that in the broader online advertising market, Google is surrounded by competition from social media companies and streaming TV services.
At Google Antitrust Trial, Documents Say One Thing. The Tech Giant’s Witnesses Say Different
Many of the government’s major witnesses have been Google managers and executives, who have frequently attempted to retract what they have written in emails, chats, and company presentations.
This was notably evident Thursday during the testimony of Jonathan Bellack, a Google product manager who sent an email that government lawyers believe is particularly incriminating.
In 2016, Bellack sent an email asking, “Is there a deeper issue with us owning the platform, the exchange, and a massive network?” The parallel would be if Goldman Sachs or Citigroup bought the NYSE or New York Stock Exchange.
For the Justice Department, Bellack’s description is nearly a flawless representation of their case. It claims that Google’s technology dominates both the market for online publishers to sell available ad space on their websites and the technology utilised by large networks of advertisers to acquire ad space. According to the lawsuit, Google even dominates the “ad exchanges” that act as a middleman in connecting buyers and sellers.
As a result of Google’s dominance in all aspects of the transaction, Justice claims the Mountain View, California-based internet behemoth has shut out competitors and been able to charge outrageous costs of 36 cents on the dollar for each ad impression that passes through its ad technology stack.
On the witness stand Thursday, Bellack characterized his email as “late night, jet-lagged ramblings.” He stated he didn’t think Google’s dominance over the buy side, sell side, or middleman was a problem. Still, he did wonder why certain customers were seeking solutions to Google’s technology.
Earlier this week, another Google official, Nirmal Jayaram, spent a substantial portion of his hearing denying the views represented in emails he wrote or articles and presentations he coauthored.
The Justice Department, of course, claims that what Google employees wrote in real-time is a more accurate representation of reality. It claims that there would be much more incriminating documentary proof if Google had not routinely erased many of the internal chats used by employees to discuss business, even after the corporation was notified that it was being investigated.
According to testimony, Google developed a “Communicate with Care” strategy in which employees were directed to add company lawyers to critical emails to classify them as “privileged” and protect them from disclosure to government regulators.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema described Google’s document retention rules as “absolutely inappropriate and improper” and noted them during the trial, but she did not impose any specific punishment.
At Google Antitrust Trial, Documents Say One Thing. The Tech Giant’s Witnesses Say Different
The Virginia trial began on September 9, exactly a month after a judge in the District of Columbia deemed Google’s primary business, its ubiquitous search engine, an illegal monopoly. The trial is still proceeding to see what, if any, remedies the judge may impose.
The ad tech at issue in the Virginia trial does not generate as much revenue for Google as its search engine, but it is nevertheless estimated to generate tens of billions of dollars every year.
The Virginia trial has been progressing significantly faster than the D.C. case. The government has produced witnesses for nine days straight and is almost done with its case. The judge has warned Google that it may expect to begin presenting its own witnesses on Friday.
SOURCE | AP
Business
Ikea Revenue Falls After It Lowered Prices
Last year, Ikea reduced prices on over 2,000 products to offer inflation-weary customers a reprieve. Although this resulted in an increase in orders, revenue declined for the first time in four years as discounts cut into its bottom line.
Ikea’s sales fell 4% to €45.1 billion ($49.3 billion) in the fiscal year 2024, which ran from September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2024, the Swedish business said Thursday.
Ikea Revenue Falls After It Lowered Prices
Ikea, the world’s largest furniture retailer, has stated that it has no regrets about emphasizing “lowering the prices” in a $2 billion discount push across all of its locations worldwide.
In a news release, Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group, Ikea’s largest franchisee, stated that “inflation and interest rates have impacted people’s wallets, and when times are challenging for people, we want to support in the best possible way.”
“Investing into lowering our prices is our long-term promise and this has been a year where the strength of the Ikea vision, our togetherness, and our entrepreneurship lived up to the test of time,” he tweeted.
Ikea, like its competitors, has gradually raised prices since the Covid-19 high in 2020, as material and transportation costs have risen. Last year, the company’s main discount promotion reduced the price of several of its most popular items, including the Billy bookcase.
Ikea Revenue Falls After It Lowered Prices
Lower prices increased visitors to its stores and website by 21%. Ikea sold 1.2 billion meatballs this year, and a company representative told CNN that it also sold more meals at its cafés.
Ikea has announced that it will provide additional reductions this year, although they will be less.
SOURCE | CNN
Business
Marriott Agrees To Pay $52 Million, Beef Up Data Security To Resolve Probes Over Data Breaches
Marriott International has agreed to pay $52 million and make improvements to improve its data security in order to satisfy state and federal claims stemming from catastrophic data breaches that affected over 300 million of its customers globally.
On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission and a consortium of attorneys general from 49 states and the District of Columbia announced separate settlement agreements with Marriott. The FTC and the states conducted parallel investigations into three data breaches that occurred between 2014 and 2020.
Marriott Agrees To Pay $52 Million, Beef Up Data Security To Resolve Probes Over Data Breaches
According to the FTC’s proposed complaint, the data breaches enabled “malicious actors” to collect passport information, payment card numbers, loyalty numbers, dates of birth, email addresses, and/or personal information from hundreds of millions of consumers.
The FTC stated that the breaches were caused by weak data security measures at Marriott and its subsidiary Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
Specifically, the agency said that the hotel operator failed to secure its computer system with proper password management, network monitoring, or other data-protection methods.
As part of its proposed settlement with the FTC, Marriott agreed to “implement a robust information security program” and give all U.S. customers with a method to request the deletion of any personal information connected with their email address or loyalty rewards account number.
Marriott also paid similar charges filed by a group of attorneys general. In addition to committing to improve its data security processes, the hotel operator will pay a $52 million penalty, which will be shared among the states.
Marriott, based in Bethesda, Maryland, stated on its website Wednesday that its agreements with the FTC and states included no acknowledgment of liability. It also stated that it has already implemented data privacy and information security measures.
In early 2020, Marriott discovered that an unexpected amount of visitor information was accessed using the login credentials of two workers at a franchisee location. At the time, the business assessed that the personal information of approximately 5.2 million guests worldwide may have been compromised.
Marriott Agrees To Pay $52 Million, Beef Up Data Security To Resolve Probes Over Data Breaches
In November 2018, Marriott reported a huge data breach in which hackers gained access to information on up to 383 million guests. In that case, Marriott stated that unencrypted passport numbers for at least 5.25 million visitors were accessed, as well as credit card information for 8.6 million guests. Starwood operated the affected hotel brands prior to its acquisition by Marriott in 2016.
The FBI spearheaded the investigation into the data theft, and investigators assumed the hackers were working for China’s Ministry of State Security, which is roughly similar to the CIA.
SOURCE | AP
Business
US: Amazon Adds Apple TV+ As A Prime Video Add-On Subscription.
(VOR News) – A partnership between Apple and Amazon is being formed in order to further strengthen their existing partnership in the streaming business.
An announcement that was issued by Amazon on Wednesday stated that beginning later this month, customers in the United States would be able to subscribe to Apple TV+ through Amazon Prime Video for a monthly charge of $9.99.
This will be available on Amazon.
Apple TV+ will be added to the broad selection of more than one hundred different subscription options that Prime Video now provides as a result of this move. HBO Max, Paramount+, and Discovery+ are some examples of platforms that could be considered for this category.
As part of Amazon’s overall goal to provide its consumers with a streaming experience that encompasses everything, this connection is a component of that strategy. Rather than having to handle several subscriptions on an individual basis, this technique gives consumers the ability to manage many subscriptions through a single platform and billing system.
Mike Hopkins, who is Senior Vice President of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, underlined the importance of simplifying the process by which customers may tailor their streaming experience within a single app. This initiative is intended to make it easier for customers to do so.
“We are proud to welcome Apple TV+ and its celebrated, critically acclaimed shows, films, and events to Prime Video,” he stated in addition. “We are excited to be a part of this partnership.”
As a result of the exceptional material that Apple TV+ has produced, such as “Ted Lasso,” “The Morning Show,” “Severance,” and “Shrinking,” the service has garnered a reputation for being of high quality. Not only does it offer live broadcasts of Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball, but it also offers exclusive films that are only accessible through this platform.
These films feature top Hollywood talent such as Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, and Casey Affleck, and they are only available through this platform.
When compared to other major platforms like Netflix, Apple TV+ has had a far higher amount of cancellations, which is proof that the service has struggled to maintain its user base.
They provide a vast array of Amazon titles.
Eddy Cue, who serves as Apple’s Senior Vice President of Services, has expressed that the business is filled with enthusiasm regarding the cooperation. According to him, Apple has the intention of making its critically acclaimed television shows and films accessible to a larger audience by exploiting the massive user base that Prime Video possesses.
Amazon Prime Video continues to increase its original content and live sports services, including the National Football League’s “Thursday Night Football,” despite the fact that it is behind Netflix in terms of overall viewing time in the United States. Other live sports offers include the National Football League’s “Monday Night Football.”
Prime Video recently announced that it has reached 200 million monthly viewers across all of its platforms.
Amazon’s goal is to reinforce its position as the industry leader by expanding the variety of content it provides to its customers through the inclusion of Apple TV+ to its roster of subscription services.
In the latter part of the month of October, Prime Video subscribers will have the opportunity to gain access to Apple TV+. This will give them with a convenient way to access Apple’s premium content in addition to the subscriptions they already have.
In the past, Amazon was successful in obtaining a partial victory in an antitrust action that was brought forward in the United States of America. According to the judge, certain allegations that were filed against the corporation were dismissed.
It is still possible that the technology corporation will be subject to an inquiry for additional accusations, such as allegations that its business practices hinder competition and restrict the number of options available to customers. This does not change the fact that the firm will continue to be investigated.
SOURCE: TET
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