Amazon's Twitch is launching The Glitch, a "brand-customizable" game world in Fortnite, on September 20, with two brand partners having their own in-game worlds (Dean Takahashi/VentureBeat)

Mediagazer: Amazon's Twitch is launching The Glitch, a “brand-customizable” game world in Fortnite, on September 20, with two brand partners having their own in-game worlds (Dean Takahashi/VentureBeat)

Top News:

New York Times:

Amazon joins the Motion Picture Association, after a long courtship; the lobbying group's other members are Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Universal, and WBD— The Motion Picture Association has been wooing the company for years. The addition gives the group a lot more muscle.
Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, Variety, The Wrap and Deadline, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Alex Weprin /
The Hollywood Reporter: Amazon Prime Video and MGM Studios Join Motion Picture Association

Christi Carras /
Los Angeles Times: Amazon MGM Studios is joining the Motion Picture Assn.

Sean Burch /
The Wrap: Amazon Joins Motion Picture Association

Press Gazette:

The Economist introduces AI translations into French, German, Mandarin, and Spanish for Espresso, its budget-friendly, “snack-sized” journalism app— The Economist has deployed AI-translated content on its budget-friendly “snack-sized” app Espresso after deciding the technology had reached the “good enough” mark.

Discussion:
Ludwig Siegele on LinkedIn

Discussion:

Wall Street Journal:

Amazon's new competition TV show, debuting October 30, will have entrepreneurs pitch judges, including Amazon execs; finalists' product will be sold on Amazon— In competition show, sellers compete in front of Amazon executives and celebrity judges — Coming soon: Amazon.com sellers duking …

Discussion:
Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

The Hollywood Reporter:

Ted Sarandos calls on streaming rivals to release their viewership numbers, says Netflix can double its viewership with live events and Christmas Day NFL games— The executive added that he believes the streaming giant can double its viewership thanks to programming like live events and the Christmas Day NFL games.

Discussion:
Front Office Sports, Quartz, IndieWire, TVNewsCheck, The Wrap and Deadline

Discussion:

Bruce Gil /
Quartz: People watched a whopping 94 billion hours of Netflix in the first half of 2024, CEO says

Brian Welk /
IndieWire: Ted Sarandos Calls on Other Streamers to Be as ‘Transparent’ as He Says Netflix Is

Sean Piccoli /
TVNewsCheck: Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos Calls On All Streamers To Be Transparent With Viewership Data

Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: Netflix's Ted Sarandos Calls for Streaming Viewership Transparency Ahead of Data Dump

VentureBeat:

Amazon's Twitch is launching The Glitch, a “brand-customizable” game world in Fortnite, on September 20, with two brand partners having their own in-game worlds— Twitch has teamed up with Halo co-creator Alex Seropian's Look North World to create The Glitch, a brand-customizable game world in Fortnite.

Discussion:

Brandon Doerrer /
Ad Age: How Twitch will work with brands on ‘The Glitch’

Jennifer Maas /
Variety: Twitch, Amazon Ads Launch Fortnite Game ‘The Glitch’ as New Marketing Opportunity for Brands Including Domino's, Peloton

The Guardian:

A look at Intelligencer Today, a pro-Russian, anti-vaccine website with editorial board members tied to Trump and contributors tied to Kremlin state media— George Papadopoulos and others involved in Intelligencer, increasingly popular source of news in rightwing circles

Discussion:

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling /
New Republic: Trump's Surprising Ties to Another Russian Disinfo Scheme

Matt Bernardini /
@mattbernardini7: NEW: Ex-Trump adviser George Papadopoulos, a Pennsylvania fake elector, a woman linked to the GRU, and others, are helping to grow a Pro-Russia misinformation website https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Travis Gettys /
Raw Story: Bevy of Trump allies now working to promote Kremlin propaganda to U.S. conservatives @rvps2001@mastodon.social: 🇺🇸 Amid the recent crackdown on #Russian influence in American media, a group of former #Trump advisers and operatives have quietly helped build a pro-Russian website that frequently spreads debunked conspiracy theories about the war in #Ukraine, election fraud and vaccines. …

Laffy /
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social: Ex-#Trump advisers help to grow pro-Russia website that spreads misinformation — George Papadopoulos and others involved in Intelligencer, increasingly popular source of news in rightwing circles — https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Brian Whitaker /
@brian_whit: @MattBernardini7 More background here about Papadopoulos and his Russian connections during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. https://brian-whit.medium.com/ ...

Adweek:

A look at Erika Badan's plans as CEO of Food52: pivoting from mass retail, rebuilding content infrastructure, and launching a fresh slate of video programming— The two publishers share a business model but have vastly different cultures and commercial circumstances — Erika Badan understands the skepticism.

Discussion:
Simon Owens on LinkedIn, @markstenberg3, @seangriffey and @simondowens@threads.net

Discussion:

Simon Owens /
Simon Owens on LinkedIn: Many sites that made big bets on driving commerce revenue via product recommendations are now struggling to grow and even seeing a decline in sales. …

Mark Stenberg /
@markstenberg3: Exclusive: Food52 saw massive growth during the pandemic, but a downturn in demand, lack of strategy and poor commerce model undid its gains. Now, former Barstool Sports CEO Erika Badan is at the helm, aiming to find improbable success—again. For @ADWEEK:https://www.adweek.com/ ...

Sean Griffey /
@seangriffey: Really great piece on Food52 which has become a shell of its past self. I'm encouraged for the first time in years because it sounds like they recognize again that content is critical in a content-to-commerce story. https://www.adweek.com/...

Simon Owens /
@simondowens@threads.net: Many sites that made big bets on driving commerce revenue via product recommendations are now struggling to grow and even seeing a decline in sales. This could be the result of too many publishers rushing into the space at once, or it's an early sign that generative AI is having a negative impact on product recommendation content. …

New York Times:

For marketers, ensuring brand safety on YouTube and other platforms has become difficult during the US election, as their ads appear next to inflammatory videos— Large organizations and brands saw their advertising dollars funneled to videos amplifying inflammatory narratives …

Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, @tchambers@indieweb.social and @lauren@mastodon …

Discussion:
TVNewsCheck: On YouTube, Major Brands' Ads Appear Alongside Racist Falsehoods About Haitian Immigrants

Tim Chambers /
@tchambers@indieweb.social: Not great look for YouTube: — https://www.nytimes.com/...

Lauren Weinstein /
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org:

New York Times:

Axel Springer strikes a deal with KKR and CPP to split into two, with control of the publishing giant's classified ads business going to the PE firms— The deal values all of Axel Springer at roughly $15 billion, with the company's publishing assets worth about $4 billion.

Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Guardian, Reuters, The Information, Axios, Bloomberg, Financial Times and MediaPost

Discussion:

Martin Peers /
The Information: Axel Springer Splits in Two

Sara Fischer /
Axios: KKR, Axel Springer reach deal to break up the media giant

Ray Schultz /
MediaPost: Axel Springer To Split Off Classifieds Business To KKR

The Verge:

YouTube says it has “widely rolled out Pause ads to all advertisers” after a “strong advertiser and strong viewer response”; YouTube piloted Pause ads in 2023— It's been nearly six years since we warned you that ads were coming for your pause button …

Discussion:
ZDNET, Tech Advisor, BGR, Android Authority, AdExchanger, Thurrott and Search Engine Land, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Laura Pippig /
Tech Advisor: YouTube confirms annoying change when you pause a video

Chris Smith /
BGR: YouTube will start showing even more ads soon

Laurent Giret /
Thurrott: YouTube Makes ‘Pause Ads’ Available to All Advertisers

TechCrunch:

Amazon launches an AI-powered video generator, available for some US advertisers in beta, which turns a single product image into a few-seconds-long video clip— Like its rival, Google, Amazon has launched an AI-powered video generator — but it's only for advertisers at the moment, and somewhat limited in what it can do.

Discussion:
About Amazon, MediaPost, The Verge, The Desk and Tv Technology, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:
About Amazon: New generative AI empowers advertisers to elevate creativity, crafting ads that captivate audiences.

Laurie Sullivan /
MediaPost: Amazon Releases AI Video Generator For Ads

Jess Weatherbed /
The Verge: Amazon is stuffing generative AI into its shopping experience

George Winslow /
Tv Technology: Spectrum Reach Becomes a Local Reseller for Amazon Ads

Bloomberg:

Sources: Byron Allen's media group is planning deeper cost cuts as it faces debt repayment deadlines, including one in February 2025— - The company has retained Moelis and Kirkland as advisers — Its $840 million term loan quoted about 65 cents on the dollar

Discussion:
Adweek

Discussion:

Kevin Eck /
Adweek: Allen Media Group Planning More Cuts

The Wrap:

Fox News fires Robert Samuel, a nearly 20-year network veteran who was an executive producer for Sean Hannity's show, after allegations of sexual harassment— Robert Samuel was terminated last week, according to Brian Stelter's “Reliable Sources” — Fox News has fired “Hannity” …

Discussion:
TVNewsCheck and @ogmcduck.bsky.social

Reuters:

The EU's General Court annuls a €1.49B antitrust fine imposed on Google in 2019 for abusing its dominance to prevent websites from using non-AdSense ad brokers— Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit Google won a legal challenge on Wednesday against a 1.49 billion euro ($1.7 billion) …

Discussion:
Android Central, @adrianweckler, @eucourtpress, The Register, Android Authority, The Information, Global Competition Review, Search Engine Land, Courthouse News Service, Thurrott, BBC, Wall Street Journal, The Information, Neowin, Engadget, Financial Times, CNBC, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, Reuters, Associated Press, Politico and RTÉ

Discussion:

Adrian Weckler /
@adrianweckler: Rare win for big tech in EU — ECJ rules against European Commission on advertising sector abuse (AdSense), cancels the €1.5bn fine https://curia.europa.eu/... @eucourtpress: #EUGeneralCourt annuls the @EU_Commission's decision to fine @Google almost €1.5 billion #AdSense 👉 https://curia.europa.eu/...

Brandon Vigliarolo /
The Register: Google dodges €1.5B EU ads antitrust fine after appeal win

Stephen Schenck /
Android Authority: Google just dodged a massive EU antitrust fine

Francesca McClimont /
Global Competition Review: General Court overturns EU Google AdSense decision

Anu Adegbola /
Search Engine Land: Google wins $1.7B EU antitrust fine appeal

Alexandra Brzozowski /
Courthouse News Service: In surprise ruling, EU court scraps $1.65 billion antitrust fine against Google

Paul Thurrott /
Thurrott: EU General Court Tosses Out a Google Antitrust Fine

Tom Gerken /
BBC: Google scores rare legal win as 1.49bn euro fine scrapped

Mauro Orru /
Wall Street Journal: Google Wins Fight to Scrap $1.7 Billion EU Antitrust Fine Over Ads

Amir Efrati /
The Information: Google Reportedly Proposed Selling its Ad Exchange to End EU Antitrust Attacks

Karthik Mudaliar /
Neowin: Google overturns €1.49 billion antitrust fine by the EU over digital ad market practices

Mariella Moon /
Engadget: Google wins appeal against $1.7 billion EU fine for ‘abusive’ advertising practices

Javier Espinoza /
Financial Times: Google wins appeal against €1.5bn EU competition fine

Arjun Kharpal /
CNBC: Google wins court challenge to the EU's $1.7 billion antitrust fine over ad product

Samuel Stolton /
Bloomberg: Google Wins Fight Over €1.5 Billion EU Fine for Ads Abuse Associated Press: Qualcomm loses court appeal against European Union antitrust penalty in chipset case from 2019

Edith Hancock /
Politico: Google scores surprise court win on EU antitrust fine

RELATED:

Reuters:
Sources: Google tried to end an EU antitrust probe by offering to sell its ad marketplace AdX, or Ad Exchange, but European publishers rejected the proposal

Discussion:
Breitbart, The Verge, The Information, Engadget and Associated Press, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Lucas Nolan /
Breitbart: Google Trial 2.0: Economist Testifies Internet Giant Charges Up to 27% More for Ads than a ‘Competitive Market’

Anna Washenko /
Engadget: Report: Google offered to sell AdX to end EU antitrust suit

Associated Press:
Google wins legal bid to overturn 1.5 billion euro antitrust fine in EU digital ad case