businessman hand stop dominoes continuous toppled or risk with copyspace
In today’s ExchangeWire news digest: UK regulators block Microsoft’s USD$68.7bn (~£55.1bn) purchase of Activision Blizzard; the latest IAB report indicates steady growth in UK digital ad spend; and Alphabet reports lower advertising revenue in Q1 2023.
Tech giant Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard for USD$68.7bn (~£55.1bn) has been blocked by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The decision from the regulatory body follows months of scrutinising three million documents from both companies, plus over 2,100 emails from the public. In its decision, the CMA stated the deal could “alter the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market, leading to reduced innovation and less choice for UK gamers over the years to come.”
The latest IAB report has found that total UK digital ad spend rose 11% year on year to reach £26.1bn in 2022. The report, the first from IAB to feature insights on retail media, shows 56% market growth in the UK since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Hannah Biernat, senior manager at PwC, who helped to produce the IAB’s latest report, said, “This year’s Adspend results reflect a stabilisation of the market growth in line with pre-pandemic levels, demonstrating the robustness of the industry and its ability to weather wider spread economic and political uncertainties.”
Google-parent Alphabet Inc. has reported a drop in advertising revenue for Q1 2023 compared to the same period last year. While Search revenue saw a 2% increase, this was offset by a 2.6% decline in revenue for YouTube ads, plus an 8.3% dip for Google’s advertising network.
Alex Depledge on Building a Brand Through CTV Advertising
Insights & Attitudes: Web3 in Media
CTV in Multichannel Media Strategies: Interview with Giovina Di Tonno, Rakuten
Lumen Registers Increased Views & More Positive Response to Ads Using SeenThis Technology
MGID First Ad Platform to Integrate with Google Web Stories
Want to see your latest press releases featured on ExchangeWire? Email info@exchangewire.com to find out more about our PressBox service.
32% – the YOY growth in podcast spend in 2022.
Source: IAB UK
Adform, the most powerful and safe media buying platform built for game changers, celebrates today…
Opti Digital, a premium ad revenue platform, unveils a new brand identity that embodies its…
In today’s Digest, Ireland pushes for Big Tech to vet financial ads, Warner Bros. Discovery…
We look at some of the key findings from this year’s All In Census (created…
This week, Google dominated headlines with bold moves across content, advertising, and AI, while lawmakers…
Intent IQ, a leading provider of identity resolution and data technology, today (May 8th, 2025)…