Google is creating a separate unit for buying ads within its shopping service, Bloomberg reports. Google Shopping will remain a part of Google, but it will operate independently and sell ads based off of its own revenues. It will be treated in Europe the same way Google treats its "Other Bets" businesses all housed under Alphabet Inc., like Verily, Nest and Waymo.
Why it matters The move comes months after European antitrust officials slapped Google with a massive $2.7 billion fine for abusing its market dominance as a search engine to steer customers to its own Google Shopping platform. By separating the shopping unit, Google can avoid paying a penalty of up to 5% of its daily revenue while it appeals the decision.
New research from Morning Consult finds that pop-up ads and pre-roll ads are the least favored by consumers. Per the study, younger viewers are willing to pay more on average to avoid invasive ads. Adults aged 34 and younger would pay about $35 to eliminate ads on social media.
Streaming now represents the majority of music revenue in the U.S., and of that revenue, the majority comes from paid subscription services, like Spotify and Apple Music, according to a new Recording Industry Association of America report.
Facebook, Twitter and other tech platforms offer marketers the ability to reach niche audiences with scale and at an efficient cost. But as Facebook's ad load continues to slow, its ad auction has become increasingly competitive, causing the average cost for every 1,000 impressions (CPM) and the average cost per click (CPC) on Facebook to skyrocket, according to data from AdStage.
Last week, Facebook said it was planning to turn more than 3,000 ads bought by Russian operatives during the 2016 campaign over to congressional investigators. On Monday, the Washington Post reported on details of some of the ads, which pitted different social groups against one another. For example, some of the Russian ads promoted groups like Black Lives Matter, while others warned that those groups pose a dangerous threat to society.
Some senior Congressional aides buy and sell stocks that could have a conflict of interest with their work, according to reporting by Politico. Since May 2015, around 450 aides have bought or sold stock of more than $1K value. There are probably more instances, as aides who make less than $124,406 are not required to report their stock purchases.
Why it matters: It's the aides who often have the more hands-on role in writing the details of legislation that impacts these companies, not the members. While the executive branch is far more strict about violating federal conflict-of-interest laws, and actual members of Congress might face much tougher scrutiny, Congress refuses to crack down on rules about stock trading.
The entrance of millennials into the workforce has forced corporate leaders to "weave purpose into the core business [models]" of their companies, according to Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo's chairperson and CEO, at TIME and Fortune's CEO Initiative.
Jonathan Taplin has become a vocal critic of big tech — primarily Facebook and Google — arguing their use of personal data is undermining privacy as well as broader societal and economic norms.
Why we care: Taplin, director emeritus of the Innovation Lab at USC's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, was among the early voices raising concerns about the biggest tech companies. His recent book is one of several that examine their dominance.
