The Stack: Pressure Mounts on Google; Meta Improves DMA Compliance

This week on The Stack: Pressure Mounts on Google; Meta Improves DMA Compliance; Today’s MadTech Daily

This week our ATS London event took place. From discussions about retail media to curation, speakers imparted insights about the latest industry hot topics. Of course, Google’s ongoing ad stack trial with the DOJ was certainly a point of discussion.

Google’s trial dominated headlines too. The industry has been attentively following news regarding its ad stack trial against the DOJ, as recordings of witnesses testifying were played in the courtroom each day. Day one was dedicated primarily to establishing market definitions. Day two also partly focused on establishing market definitions, with Google’s unfair auction dynamics taking centre stage. Today’s MadTech Daily episode examines happenings from Wednesday’s courtroom session.

While the thick of Google’s troubles currently go on in the US, the EU also hit the tech titan with a fine of €2.4bn (£2bn), upheld from a 2017 case which Google had been appealing. Meanwhile, the CMA – the UK’s competition watchdog – released its provisional findings that Google has abused its dominant position in the market. It concluded that Google has potentially harmed thousands of publishers and advertisers in the UK.

While Google flails in hot water, Meta has been making moves in efforts to adhere to the EU’s Digital Markets Act. Newly announced features will increase the operability between its messaging services and others. Changes include the option for users to combine their message inboxes to receive messages from different platforms in one place.