1. Google Inks Landmark Agreement With Australian Media Giant Nine Entertainment (CNet)
On Tuesday, Google signed a deal worth over AU$30 million ($23 million) per year with Nine Entertainment, a media giant and one of the biggest lobbyists for the Media Code in Australia. This deal comes in after a highly publicized spat Google had with the Australian government in recent months over the News Media Bargaining Code that was forcing Google to pay news publishers for stories that surface in Google Search inquiries.
2. North Dakota Rejects Bill That Would’ve Threatened Apple’s Walled Garden (Apple Insider)
North Dakota’s state senate has rejected the “anti-App Store bill” that would have upended the rules of the App Store and threatened one of the company’s most important businesses. Senate Bill 2333, which would have required Apple to allow third-party app stores and enabled developers to bypass the company’s “App Store tax,” was defeated with a 36-11 vote in the senate.
3. Big Tech’s Next Big Problem Are The New Private Lawsuits Against Them (NYT)
Google and Facebook are expected to face a number of private antitrust lawsuits that have stemmed after the government cases surfaced against them. As per the New York Times, there are around 10 suits that have already been filed against these Big Tech Giants, and if successful, they would have to repay big.
4. Vevo Launches AI-Driven ‘Moods’ To Target Ads To Attitudes (Forbes)
Vevo launches Moods, an artificial-intelligence tool that groups music videos into specific moods to improve the targeting of ads that run alongside them. Vevo said that better-aligned ads will generate better audience recall and improve favorability toward the brand involved, as research suggests is the case.
5. Tech Giants Pay $424 Million In Unmatched Royalties For Publishers, Songwriters (Forbes)
A total of $424.38 million was received by the Mechanical Licensing Collective in a historical unmatched royalty from digital service providers. Apple Music, Amazon Music, Google, Pandora, and Spotify were among the twenty digital service providers transferring the royalty to the Collective. Apple Music paid out the largest royalty at $163.34 million, followed by Spotify at $153.23 million. They are followed by Amazon Music at $42.74 million, Google at $32.86 million, Pandora at $12.36 million, Soundcloud at $10.17 million, Tidal at $6.8 million, and iHeartRadio at $1.34 million.
6. Buzzfeed Finalizes Acquisition Of HuffPost (New York Post)
Jonah Peretti, CEO of Buzzfeed finalized the acquisition of the left-leaning news and culture site Huffington Post. HuffPost, which officially shortened its name from Huffington Post, was without an editor-in-chief since March 2020. The search for a new editor-in-chief is expected to move into high gear now that the deal is done.
7. TikTok Hit With Consumer Law Breaches Complaints Across Europe (Yahoo News)
Europe’s consumer protection watchdogs targeted TikTok with a volley of complaints about practices they say are unfair to users, especially teenagers. The complaints cover TikTok’s “misleading” privacy practices and “unclear” and “ambiguous” terms of service. All these allegedly fail to protect young children from hidden advertising and harmful content.
8. Microsoft Announced Kids Mode For Its Edge Browser (Windows Central)
Microsoft has started testing a Kids Mode in its Edge browser to help protect children while they’re navigating the web. The company, which created the mode primarily for kids aged 5-12, is rolling it out to Edge Insiders testers on the Dev and Canary channels.
