Mediagazer: Sources: the US DOJ is preparing to sue Google over its ad market business as soon as September, as the DOJ's antitrust division lawyers interview publishers (Bloomberg)

9:10 AM ET, August 10, 2022

Top News:

Sources: Walmart has held talks with Paramount, Disney, and Comcast, as the retailer explores bundling a streaming service into its Walmart+ membership program — The retail giant is exploring bundling a streaming service into its Walmart+ membership program.

J. Clara Chan / The Hollywood Reporter:

BuzzFeed reports Q2 revenue up 20% YoY to $106.8M, including Complex Networks, a $23.6M net loss, vs. $0.8M YoY, and time spent down 19% YoY to 154M hours — BZFD stock has dropped roughly 50 percent in price over the past six months. — BuzzFeed brought in $106.8 million in revenue during …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, @joshsternberg and @thr

Peter Kafka / Vox:

Axios, Politico, Punchbowl, and other Washington-focused outlets owe a lot of their success to ad deals with Meta, Alphabet, and other Big Tech companies — Money from Meta — and the rest of Big Tech — is pouring into Washington publications. — Axios is an against-the-grain success story …

Discussion: The Rebooting, @jessicalessin, @delrey, @lucas_shaw, @sarafischer, @chafkin, @kent_pubcitizen, @leah_nylen, @pkafka, @lutherlowe, @bluestein, @nytimestech, @kerrymflynn, @benmullin and @terronk

Bloomberg:

Sources: the US DOJ is preparing to sue Google over its ad market business as soon as September, as the DOJ's antitrust division lawyers interview publishers — The US Justice Department is preparing to sue Google as soon as next month, according to people familiar with the matter …

Discussion: Engadget, CNET, @anthony, TechCrunch and AppleInsider, more at Techmeme »

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

Spotify gives its Android app's home screen separate feeds for Music and Podcasts & Shows to better highlight recommendations, will bring the change to iOS soon — Spotify announced today that it's launching a new Home experience that includes separate feeds for “Music” and “Podcasts & Shows.”

Discussion: Spotify, Complete Music Update, Music Ally, @alexhern and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Brandon Katz / The Wrap:

Fox Corp reports Q4 revenue rose 5% YoY to $3.03B, with ad revenue up 7% YoY, and net income of $308M; FY 2022 revenue was $13.97B, with $1.23B net income — Despite concerns that a looming recession would depress ad sales, Fox Corp. is bucking the trend thus far.

Discussion: Variety, Deadline, @great_katzby, The Hollywood Reporter and Fox Corp

The Guardian:
News Corp reports Q4 revenue up 7% YoY to $2.67B, $127M net income, WSJ subscriptions up 8% YoY to 3.7M+, and full year 2022 net income up 95% YoY to $760M

Discussion: @jimwaterson, Press Gazette, @talkingbiznews, @wuerker, News Corp, Talking Biz News, Forbes, The Age, MarketWatch, Blue Mountains Gazette, Australian Financial Review and Wall Street Journal

Lachlan Markay / Axios:

Filings: Russia-backed TV Novosti and two entities are funding four news-style TV shows from US conspiracy theorist Ben Swann, covering the US, NATO, and more — Russia's state-backed media apparatus is financing four new TV programs produced by a U.S. conspiracy theorist and aimed in large part …

Discussion: @lachlan, @ldrogen, @robertcaruso, @m_c_klein, @andrewsweiss and @andrew_danieri

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Kara Swisher plans to stop hosting the Code Conference after the 2022 edition to focus on new projects that explore topics beyond tech and reach more people — After 20 years, this year's annual Code Conference from Vox Media will be Kara Swisher's last year hosting and organizing the event, Swisher told Axios.

Discussion: @mediaevan, @sarafischer, @taylorlorenz and @taylorlorenz

Reuters:

AppLovin offers to buy Unity for $58.85 per share, an 18% premium to Unity's Monday closing price, in a $17.54B all-stock deal; AppLovin's stock drops 10.29% — Gaming software company AppLovin Corp (APP.O) on Tuesday made an offer to buy peer Unity Software Inc (U.N) in a $17.54 billion all-stock deal …

Discussion: AppLovin, The Shortcut, @gandalfpls, @roundhill, @sarthakgh, @eric_seufert, @carnage4life, @stockmktnewz, @eric_seufert, @bloombergasia, @slingshotcap, @richlightshed, CNET, TechCrunch, Bloomberg and AdExchanger, more at Techmeme »

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:

Spotify quietly begins selling event tickets to users in the US directly, instead of redirecting buyers to Ticketmaster and Eventbrite — Spotify has launched a new site to sell fans tickets to live gigs directly from its platform instead of redirecting users to partners like Ticketmaster and Eventbrite.

Discussion: Engadget and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »

Patrick McGee / Financial Times:

Many small businesses that use personalized online ads are cutting back on marketing, in part due to Apple's ATT, as they face rising customer acquisition costs — Online brands reliant on personalised ads ramp back marketing spending — Small businesses are cutting back marketing spending due …

Discussion: @glenngabe, @1br0wn, @nigelbarron and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Miami-based Column, a public benefit company offering software to streamline placing public notices in newspapers, raised a $30M Series A led by Lux Capital — Column, a public benefit company that provides software to streamline the placement of public notices, has raised a $30 million series …

Discussion: @jeffjarvis, @joshua__hone, @sarafischer, @anniebishai and @lux_capital, more at Techmeme »

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Sophie Fullerton / Washington Post:
YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram travel influencers are documenting trips to Syria, helping burnish the regime's image, often sponsored by brands like Surfshark

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Max Goldbart / Deadline:
The UN raises “grave concerns” with Iran over the treatment of BBC News Persian staff, as Iran claims BBC journalists aimed to “overthrow the Islamic Republic”

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Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:
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Earlier Picks:

Sara Fischer / Axios:
The New York Times plans to expand its ad business across its bundled products like games and sports, under new ad executive Mohit Lohia, who joined from Amazon

Discussion: @stephentotilo, @raju, @alex_hardiman and The New York Times Company

Anna Menta / Decider:
Warner Bros. movies are no longer guaranteed to hit HBO Max after 45 days in theaters; source: the company will decide streaming dates on a “case-by-case basis”

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Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sports media startup Overtime, which targets Gen-Z and millennials, has raised a $100M Series D led by Liberty Media, a source says at a $500M+ valuation

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Wall Street Journal:
Despite YouTube suspending hundreds of Kremlin-linked channels, Russia has yet to ban the service, some argue because the Kremlin views it as too big to block

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How Appalshop's WMMT, an eastern Kentucky community radio station, and the region's NPR station struggled to report on and recover from recent historic flooding

From Techmeme:

Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Hacking group GhostR claims it stole 5.3M records from World-Check screening database, used for KYC checks for sanctions and financial crime links, in March

George Steer / Financial Times:
Nvidia closed down 10% on Friday, falling the most since March 2020 and losing more than $200B of its market value, as investors pull back from AI bets

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Sources: EU may accept Apple's proposal to open its NFC payments tech to rivals, and may close its antitrust probe in May, letting Apple avoid hefty fines

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