Top News:
David McCabe / New York Times:
A US judge says Google acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in some online advertising tech, the second time in a year a court found Google acted illegally — The ruling was the second time in a year that a federal court had found that Google had acted illegally to maintain its dominance.
Discussion:
The Verge, Reuters, MediaPost, Fast Company, Engadget, Adweek, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Wall Street Journal, News/Media Alliance, Bloomberg, Gizmodo, The Western Journal, Yahoo Finance, SFist, MacRumors, @dell.bsky.social, MarTech, @klobuchar.senate.gov, Financial Times, Barron's Online, UPI, Deadline, @ddayen.bsky.social, @khushitavasant, @_annalanglois, @matthewstoller, @aripap, @aripap, @moreperfectus, @mcconnell.bsky.social, @lutherlowe, @benremaly, @aripap, @jahmierose.bsky.social, @laurenfeiner.bsky.social, 9to5Google, @sayreevan, @jakeweindling.bsky.social, @benbrodydc, @benremaly, @lewis_crofts, @zamaan_qureshi, @future_of_music, @sarafischer, @matthewstoller, @chronotope, @lukewgoldstein, @_annalanglois, @loudmouthjulia, @moreperfectus, @superwuster.bsky.social, WBAL Baltimore News, AppleInsider, The Post Millennial, Common Dreams, CBS News, Semafor and Drudge Retort, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Axios:
The DOJ and 17 US states that brought the antitrust case seek to force Google to sell off its “network” ad business, which is ~12% of Alphabet's total revenue — Google's dominance of the online advertising and ad-tech markets violates U.S. antitrust laws, a Federal court ruled Thursday …
Discussion:
The Wrap, CNN, Yahoo Finance, Los Angeles Times, Politico, Business Insider, Bloomberg, Sherwood News, The Register, Benzinga, MEDIANAMA, Quartz, The Hill, Agence France-Presse, The Guardian, WBAL Baltimore News, Reuters, Lawyer Monthly, Breitbart, Search Engine Land and UPI, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
In her ruling, Judge Brinkema says Google did not meet the monopoly definition for tools used to buy display ads, but did for ad exchanges and website ad tools — Google's AI Overviews Echo Anti-Abortion Messaging, Report Finds — Sandberg Challenged Over Meta Business Moves During FTC Trial
Discussion:
Breitbart, Washington Times, CNET, State of California, Wired, TechCrunch, CNBC, MediaPost, ABA Journal, The Daily Wire, Digiday, Ars Technica, Washington Examiner, Entrepreneur, Townhall, CBS News, New York Post, The Information, Sherwood News, Daily Caller News Foundation, ZeroHedge News, One America News Network and Forbes, more at Techmeme »
Natalie Jarvey / The Ankler:
With Kid Cowboy, Nickelodeon becomes the first TV network to debut an original series in full on YouTube, bowing to YouTube's supremacy among kids — Exec Ashley Kaplan and creator Freddy Wexler take me inside the inside the launch of ‘Kid Cowboy’ as the TV net's first original to debut on the free streamer
Discussion:
@simondowens@threads.net and @natjarv
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Similarweb: total desktop social referral traffic from Facebook grew 75% YoY for 68 top English-language news sites due to algorithm changes in January 2025 — Facebook traffic appears to be a growing part of the social pie again at three-quarters of the world's biggest news websites.
Discussion:
@2xaught7.bsky.social
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Chris Matthews is reviving Hardball on Substack with new episodes on Mondays at noon; Matthews abruptly retired from MSNBC in March 2020 — The former MSNBC host retired five years ago, but says he will reboot his cable news program on the subscription platform. — Hardball is back.
Discussion:
Barrett Media and Hardball with Chris Matthews
Reuters:
MoffettNathanson: a US recession may result in $45B in lost ad spend in 2025 and ad budgets shifting from traditional TV to alternatives like streaming services — Wall Street analysts offered a gloomy view of the first quarter for much of Hollywood, warning that economic uncertainty caused …
Discussion:
The Daily Upside, The Register and New York Times
Financial Times:
RedBird is drawing up plans to be the “sole-control owner of the Telegraph Media Group” to bring an end to the media group's protracted two-year sale — Plan would reduce stake of Abu Dhabi-based IMI to overcome objections of British government on grounds of foreign control
Devin Leonard / Bloomberg:
A profile of Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis, who stepped down in July 2024 after accusations of mismanagement, conflicts of interest, and accounting issues — Merck Mercuriadis convinced everyone from pop stars to Blackstone that music was the next hot asset class. It worked out for everyone—but him.
Discussion:
@devinleonard and @bw
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
In an X post, the FCC chairman suggests Comcast may be violating its licenses and accuses it of “news distortion” after MSNBC didn't air a WH press hearing — FCC chairman Brendan Carr suggested that Comcast may be violating its broadcast licenses after MSNBC declined to carry …
Discussion:
@brendancarrfcc, The Verge, New Republic, @slazerlee.bsky.social, The Hill, The Wrap, @chucktodd, @mattwelch, @ryangrim, @tedstew, @ditzkoff.bsky.social, The Independent, Forbes, @mediaevan, @foglandia.bsky.social, @aaronterr1, @adamkinzinger, @nickgillespie, Mediaite, New York Post, Variety and TVNewsCheck
@newsfromgoogle:
Google says “we won half of this case and we will appeal the other half” of the US antitrust ruling and “disagree[s]” with the decision on its publisher tools — “We won half of this case and we will appeal the other half. The Court found that our advertiser tools and our acquisitions, such as DoubleClick, don't harm competition. We disagree with the Court's decision regarding our publisher tools. Publishers have many options and they
Discussion:
Investor's Business Daily, The Information and Search Engine Land, more at Techmeme »
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Smashing, an AI-powered news and social media posts aggregation app by Goodreads co-founder Otis Chandler, shuts down, citing its inability to grow quickly — Building an app dedicated to helping people aggregate and read news, articles and social media posts in one place is apparently a tough proposition these days.
Discussion:
Smashing Team's Substack, Smashing and @otown
Melanie Goodfellow / Deadline:
Palestinian photojournalist and artist Fatima Hassouna has been killed in an Israeli airstrike on her family's home in Gaza City — A Palestinian artist and photojournalist who is the protagonist of a documentary due to premiere in Cannes in May has been killed in an Israeli air strike.
Discussion:
IndieWire, Le Monde and The Hollywood Reporter
