US Considers Google Breakup; Brand Safety Cited as Advertisers’ Top Worry; OOH Grows 17% YoY

On today’s news digest: US Considers Google Breakup; Brand Safety Cited as Advertisers’ Top Worry; OOH Grows 17% YoY

Following Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling that Google is a monopoly, Justice Department officials are in discussions regarding various possibilities to diminish the tech giant’s search dominance. A company breakup is among the options which could be demanded of Google; this could look like the separation of its Chrome Browser or Android Smartphone operating system. The breakup of Google would certainly have a dramatic impact on the ad tech ecosystem. Less extreme scenarios include forcing Google to make its data available to rivals, or obligating it to terminate certain agreements such as its deal with Apple which made it the default search engine on the iPhone. The deliberations are in their early stages yet, although Judge Mehta has requested that the tech giant and the Justice Department present a fix to conclude the case within the next few weeks, by 4th September. 

As advertisers envisage an ad tech landscape no longer so fiercely dominated by Google, we examine other industry uncertainties. Only 15% of advertisers and agencies feel “very confident” about their current programmatic and ad tech capabilities meeting their future needs, according to WARC’s Future of Programmatic 2024 report. When it comes to improving these, the following areas are deemed most important by respondents: improved ad verification capabilities, access to better quality data, and improved ad targeting capabilities. Brand safety/suitability ranks the highest on advertisers’ list of concerns. Relatedly, viewability and accurate measurement are cited as a concern for over half of respondents. Sustainability ranks lowest, with only 5% citing it as their biggest worry. 

Focusing our attention on out-of-home (OOH) advertising, industry body Outsmart reports that the sector’s ad revenue has seen its strongest ever growth in H1 since records began. Total OOH revenue during the first half of the year was up 17% year-over-year, reaching a total of £646m. Digital’s share of revenue increased by 21%, while Classic grew 11%. Considering its momentum in H1, OOH’s current outlook is particularly strong. 

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