Netflix agrees to acquire WBD's studios and streaming business in an $82.7B cash-and-stock deal, including debt, to close after WBD splits in two in Q3 2026
Netflix announced this week that it had reached … Axios : Netflix to buy Warner Bros. for nearly $83 billion Alex Pigman / Taipei Times : Warner Bros acquisition by Netflix sparks backlash Victory Emm...
WhatsApp rolls out ads in its Updates tab, a first for the app, and Meta will collect some data to target the ads, but says it has no plans to put ads in chats
here's where you'll see them (and where you won't) Capital Brief : Meta to roll out ads on WhatsApp and offer paid subscriptions Katie Hicks / Marketing Brew : Ads are coming to WhatsApp Colin Kirklan...
Sources: the FTC is investigating whether roughly a dozen US advertising and advocacy groups violated antitrust law by coordinating boycotts among advertisers
Spending federal $$ to support antisemitism violates several Trump EOs. — www.nytimes.com/2025/06/02/t... Karl Bode / @karlbode.com : When Matt Stoller claimed the Trump FTC would “continue the anti...
Sources: the US DOJ is conducting a criminal antitrust probe into whether Live Nation and AEG illegally colluded on concert refunds at the start of the pandemic
Bloomberg : X: @matthewstoller and @benbrodydc See also Mediagazer X: Matt Stoller / @matthewstoller : A criminal antitrust probe of Live Nation-Ticketmaster? Yes please. https://www.bloomberg.com/.....
Sources: Meta is talking to crypto firms about introducing stablecoins for managing payouts, and in January 2025 hired a VP of product with crypto experience
Three Years After Diem Rony Roy / crypto.news : Meta may be eyeing stablecoin payments for Instagram creators Samuel Edyme / Bitcoinist.com : Stripe Expands Crypto Offerings With Stablecoin Accounts a...
Apple files an appeal with the US Ninth Circuit, challenging last week's ruling to stop it from charging developers fees on purchases made outside the App Store
but it's also being sued over it The Macalope / Macworld : Give up the App Store purchase fight, Apple, it's just not worth it Joe Sparrow / Music Ally : Apple approves Spotify app update - and appeal...
Airbnb now shows the full cost of a stay, excluding taxes, in search results by default; a Biden-era FTC rule on “junk fees” is set to go into effect on May 12
Even the Sneaky Fees Fortune : Airbnb will now show you the full price for a stay by default so you know exactly what you'll be paying for upfront AJ Dellinger / Gizmodo : Airbnb to Show Full Price by...
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
www.theverge.com/news/650665/ ... Cori Crider / @coricrider.com : BREAKING: Google loses the adtech case, has unlawful monopoly over advertising tech. — HUGE deal - it is the source of their monopol...
Sources: the Trump administration plans to eliminate the IRS' free Direct File tax program, after IRS staff were told in mid-March to stop working on it
apnews.com/article/irs-... Representative Seth Magaziner / @magaziner.house.gov : So instead of using technology to make government more efficient, DOGE is canceling technology to make big corporation...
FTC v. Meta: in an email, Mark Zuckerberg considered spinning off Instagram in 2018 as he increasingly became concerned that its success was hurting Facebook
meaning show people more ads — as a way to make more money and take some pressure off Facebook — Perhaps not surprisingly, IG's founders left the company a few months after all of this happened in S...