Mediagazer: Automattic is acquiring Prospress, a startup with about 20 employees that has developed WooCommerce Subscriptions, a recurring payment solution for WooCommerce (Romain Dillet/TechCrunch)

Ryan Browne / CNBC:

Ireland's Data Protection Commission, the lead EU supervisory authority for Google, announces investigation into Google's online advertising data collection — KEY POINTS — Ireland's Data Protection Commission says its probe will examine whether Google's processing of data in advertising transactions breaches EU privacy rules.

Discussion: Reuters, Marketing Land, Data Protection Commission, MediaNama, Beyond Search, XDA Developers and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Jessica Davies / Digiday:

Companies that have taken a strict approach to GDPR feel punished by falling ad revenues while rivals flourished, and are now loosening their terms — Complacency is a dangerous mistress. But it's a trap many companies are in danger of falling into when it comes to the General Data Protection Regulation …

Discussion: MediaPost, Politico, @digiday, @karaswisher, @kimmaicutler, TechCrunch and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Marc Tracy / New York Times:

Jay Fielden is out as Esquire editor in chief after three years as part of a reshuffling under Hearst Magazine President Troy Young — Jay Fielden is leaving his position as Esquire's editor in chief, a job he held three years, he and Hearst Magazines announced Thursday.

Discussion: WWD, Adweek, @tomgara, Mediaite, The Wrap, @jimrutenberg, New York Magazine, New York Post, @elainaplott, @coreypein, @kateaurthur, Fashionista, @mccanner, @tomgara and @coreypein

Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed News:

As Twitter tests an increased ad load, users report a higher number of spammy or malicious promoted tweets — Twitter is running a test that has increased the number of promoted tweets showing up in people's timelines — and it has resulted in a range of user complaints about their new prevalence …

Discussion: Bloomberg and AdExchanger, more at Techmeme »

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Rotten Tomatoes says it will now calculate the Audience Score using only ratings or reviews from users whose ticket purchase has been verified through Fandango — Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes is taking additional steps to confirm that audience members actually see a movie before leaving a rating or review.

Discussion: Variety, /Film, The Wrap, Fast Company, Business Insider, Engadget, Associated Press, @ptibz, @edzitron, @danamrich and The A.V. Club, more at Techmeme »

Columbia Journalism Review:

A newly released report on DOJ's subpoena of AP phone records in 2013 shows that DOJ also considered subpoenaing phone records of WaPo, NYT, and ABC — With its latest leak indictment last week, the Department of Justice under Donald Trump is now on pace to break the previous record …

Discussion: @trevortimm, @nickochsnerwbtv and @jameeljaffer

CBC News:

Canadian government names eight media organizations to sit on an advisory panel to recommend news operations for CAD$600M media support fund over five years — The federal government has named the eight Canadian organizations that will sit on a special advisory panel tasked …

Discussion: Canada.ca, @awudrick, HuffPost Canada, iPolitics, Telegraph and Canadian Press

Julia Alexander / The Verge:

YouTube announces that it will round down real-time subscriber counts starting August, and exact subscriber counts will no longer be displayed — Sites like Social Blade may be impacted — YouTube is introducing a major change to the way real-time subscriber counts are displayed …

Discussion: YouTube Help, MediaPost, @holmesinfive, @bakabakaonichan, @brodyanimates, @blakeir, @chrisdancy, @loudmouthjulia, @lowspec_gamer, @loudmouthjulia, @taylorlorenz and Variety

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

Instagram says IGTV will now support landscape video, following feedback from creators and users, as the service struggles to gain traction — The vertical video experiment is over — Instagram is no longer all-in on vertical video. The company announced today that its longform video offshoot …

Discussion: Digiday, TechCrunch, Variety, Instagram, Engadget and Android Police, more at Techmeme »

Claire Selvin / ARTnews:

PBS NewsHour announces it will expand its broadcast and digital arts reporting initiative, CANVAS, with a $1.7M investment from the Knight Foundation — The television program has created a website for its arts reporting initiative, Canvas. Read More — The post Knight Foundation Gives $1.7 M …

Discussion: Knight Foundation, @judywoodruff and @tylergreenbooks

Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:

NYT management raises concerns in internal memo as requests for book leave grow, leaving managers worried about exclusive reporting and newsroom needs — Baker, Abrams, Stewart, Schmidt, Kantor, Twohey, Rutenberg, Nagourney, and lots more: who doesn't have a deal?

Discussion: @martinsfp, @daisandconfused, Politico and CNN

Michael McGowan / The Guardian:

Actor Geoffrey Rush awarded A$2.9M in damages from the News Corp Australia's Daily Telegraph, the largest defamation payout to a single person in Australia — Court hears that actor offered to settle for $50,000 and an apology but never heard back from News Corp

Discussion: Press Gazette, BBC, New York Times, The Wrap, Yahoo News, The Age, The Hill, Metro.co.uk, Vanity Fair, Associated Press, The West Australian, Reuters, @aberrantthe, 9News, NEWS.com.au and Mercury News

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

Restrictions on political coverage during voting places UK broadcasters in a precarious legal situation as they cover cabinet resignations during EU elections — Strict broadcasting laws place restrictions on coverage of politics during voting periods — Attempts by Conservative MPs …

Discussion: @martinbelam