A US federal judge rules Google has a monopoly in "general search text advertising" and Google's exclusive agreements enabled it to raise prices on that product (Lauren Feiner/The Verge)

Mediagazer: A US federal judge rules Google has a monopoly in “general search text advertising” and Google's exclusive agreements enabled it to raise prices on that product (Lauren Feiner/The Verge)

Top News:

Mediaite:

Bloomberg EIC says he has apologized to the freed prisoners and to WSJ EIC; report: one of the two Bloomberg reporters who bylined the story has been fired— John Micklethwait, the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, announced this week that several members of his newsroom have faced …
Discussion: @charlottetklein, New York Post, @ericnewcomer, @warondumb, Talking Biz News and New York Magazine

Discussion:

Charlotte Klein /
@charlottetklein: Jennifer Jacobs—one of the two Bloomberg reporters who bylined the embargo-breaking Gershkovich piece—has been fired, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Ariel Zilber /
New York Post: Bloomberg reportedly fires White House reporter for breaking embargo on Evan Gershkovich deal

Eric Newcomer /
@ericnewcomer: bloomberg really should explain what happened here. given the power of editors at bloomberg, there needs to be more transparency about what played out exactly. unfair to put all the blame with a respected reporter.

Kyle Whitmire /
@warondumb: I had wondered why Bloomberg was so far out front without corroborating reports from other outlets.

Chris Roush /
Talking Biz News: Bloomberg White House reporter Jacobs departs

Charlotte Klein /
New York Magazine: The White House asked news outlets to hold their stories on the prisoner swap until Evan Gershkovich and others were in US custody, an embargo Bloomberg broke

RELATED:

Mediaite:

Jennifer Jacobs, the Bloomberg News reporter fired for allegedly breaking Russian prisoner swap story embargo, suggests she didn't decide to publish prematurely— Bloomberg News senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs shot back at the news outlet on Monday after she was fired …

Discussion:

Katie Robertson /
New York Times: Bloomberg Disciplines Journalists Over Prisoner Swap Article

Jennifer Jacobs /
@jenniferjjacobs: Associated Press: Bloomberg apologizes for premature story on prisoner swap, disciplines journalists involved

Mark Toth /
@mctothstl: @JenniferJJacobs To be sure, as I can personally attest, journalists do not decide when stories are published or what headlines are used. Sometimes, not even the presiding editors make those choices. In some online publications, timing & headlines are determined by the web admins — and long

Sarah Reese Jones /
@politicussarah: @JenniferJJacobs I've always learned something from your questions on WH calls and deeply respect your work. Rather horrified that you are being blamed for the publication timing. No one worth anything thinks you would jeopardize a fellow journalist. I'm so sorry for what you're going

A.J. Perez /
@byajperez: @JenniferJJacobs This is maddening. I'm sorry you had to take the fall for your bosses.

Heidi N. Moore /
@moorehn: @JenniferJJacobs it's awful that they threw you under the bus. Hoping you land somewhere good 🙏

CeCe Q /
@arrowofartemis: @JenniferJJacobs Then who exactly was responsible for publishing the article in violation of the embargo which is what Bloomberg did?

John McQuaid /
@johnmcquaid@threads.net: Would be useful to know how/why such a major editorial breakdown took place, and how staffers high-fiving each other on social media could have been unaware of the problem ... over to you, Bloomberg ombudsman https://www.thewrap.com/...

John McQuaid /
@johnmcquaid@threads.net: Jennifer Jacobs, who was fired over Bloomberg's embargo breaking, implies that she did not make the decision to publish prematurely https://www.huffpost.com/... https://x.com/...

Matthew Keys /
The Desk: Bloomberg fires reporter who broke prisoner swap story Fox News: Bloomberg admits it ‘prematurely published’ story on historic prisoner swap, disciplines journalists

Paige Skinner /
HuffPost: Bloomberg Reporter Fired Over Breaking Embargo On Evan Gershkovich's Release: Reports

The Wrap:
Email: Bloomberg EIC John Micklethwait says the outlet has taken disciplinary action against those involved in breaking the Russia prisoner swap embargo

Discussion:
@katie_robertson, CNN, @jayrosen_nyu, @dan_munz, Fox News, @dnvolz, @maxwelltani, @bgrueskin, Newser, @benadida, The Hill, Deadline and TVNewsCheck

Discussion:

Katie Robertson /
@katie_robertson: NEW: Bloomberg says it has taken disciplinary action against a number of people involved in breaking the prisoner swap embargo last week, email here from EIC John Micklethwait [image]

Jay Rosen /
@jayrosen_nyu: Bloomberg's editor in chief: “We prematurely published a story on the release of Evan Gershkovich and the other prisoners, which could have endangered the negotiated swap that set them free.” Read the rest: https://x.com/...

Dustin Volz /
@dnvolz: I want to thank Bloomberg for this apology. Their premature story on Thursday caused a lot of people to panic and could have led to real harm. It didn't, thankfully, but it's nice to see them own the mistake.

Max Tani /
@maxwelltani: Follows an internal review, which we first reported in last night's @semafor media newsletter https://www.semafor.com/... [image]

Bill Grueskin /
@bgrueskin: WSJ Publisher @almarlatour is asked by @JoeNBC about news orgs that reported Evan Gershkovich's release before he cleared Russian airspace. “Embargoes are embargoes. When people's lives are at stake, you take those embargoes even more seriously.”

Rob Quinn /
Newser: Bloomberg Broke Embargo on Reporting Prisoner Swap

Ben Adida /
@benadida: I will always applaud those who correct their mistakes and apologize. The willingness to admit a mistake and make amends is the most important skill, and also the one in far too short supply today. Thank you Bloomberg.

Dominick Mastrangelo /
The Hill: Bloomberg disciplines multiple staff over premature prisoner swap story

Ted Johnson /
Deadline: Bloomberg Takes Disciplinary Action Against Staffers For Breaking Embargo On Prisoner Swap Plan To Release Evan Gershkovich And Others

The Verge:

A US federal judge rules Google has a monopoly in “general search text advertising” and Google's exclusive agreements enabled it to raise prices on that product— A federal judge ruled that Google violated US antitrust law by maintaining a monopoly in the search and advertising markets.

Discussion:
CNN, AdExchanger, New York Times, Politico, Ad Age, MediaPost, PhoneArena, @jason_kint, @digitalsamiam, @marie_haynes, @jason_kint, The Information, Reuters, UPI, WTOL-TV, Bloomberg, ScheerPost.com, @webology@mastodon.social, TechCrunch, MarTech, Quartz, The Wrap, BGR, 9to5Mac, Variety, @parismarx@mastodon.online, Fox Business, CNBC, @theory@xoxo.zone, New York Post, @kottke@mastodon.social, W Media Research, The Hollywood Reporter, The Drum, Ars Technica, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and News/Media Alliance, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Allison Schiff /
AdExchanger: The DOJ Wins Its Search Antitrust Case Against Google. Next Up Is Ad Tech

Josh Sisco /
Politico: DOJ, states win Google search antitrust case

Wendy Davis /
MediaPost: Google Search Deals Violated Antitrust Law, Judge Rules

Alan Friedman /
PhoneArena: Federal judge rules that Google runs a monopoly with its search and search advertising businesses

Jason Kint /
@jason_kint: In fact, the Court found Google just spread out its manipulations of pricing in order to make it appear to just be “noise.” This is the part where my screaming in joy (thanks for all of the messages everyone :) ) turned to anger as I consider impact to Rest of World. /14 [image]

Sam /
@digitalsamiam: A few things here are interesting: (1) Mehta refers to Text Ads as a “submarket” - I'm sure Google's attorneys are going to use that (along with the attempted disintermediation of search ads + shopping ads) in an appeal. (2) I genuinely don't see a world where this [image]

Marie Haynes /
@marie_haynes: There are 2 kinds of ads Google shows, general search text ads and shopping ads, also known as Product Listing Ads, PLA's. [image]

Jason Kint /
@jason_kint: it also found Google manipulated its ad prices without - even considering - competitive effects. Reminder they doubled their search text ads on surfaces so THIS ABUSE SCREWED THE PUBLIC AND PUBLISHERS BY MANY MANY TENS OF BILLIONS. /3 [image]

Julia Conley /
ScheerPost.com: US Court Rules Google a Monopoly in ‘Biggest Antitrust Case of the 21st Century’

Jeff Triplett /
@webology@mastodon.social: 🍿 This was not the monopolist breakup I wanted to read about in my timeline today, but it's a damn good start. — (In all fairness, it was in my top 2.) — https://www.theverge.com/...

Anu Adegbola /
MarTech: Federal judge rules Google violated antitrust law

Laura Bratton /
Quartz: Google just lost the biggest tech antitrust case in decades

Chance Miller /
9to5Mac: Google's $20B default search deal with Apple violates antitrust law, judge rules

Paris Marx /
@parismarx@mastodon.online: Google being found guilty of monopoly practices is a landmark finding that will affect the coming tech antitrust cases, but now the question is about consequences. — The remedies haven't been decided. Microsoft escaped the worst of them two decades ago. — https://www.theverge.com/... …

David Wheeler /
@theory@xoxo.zone: “After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.” — https://www.theverge.com/...

Thomas Barrabi /
New York Post: ‘Google is a monopolist’: Search giant broke antitrust law in landmark case, judge rules @kottke@mastodon.social: Google, a monopoly, loses its antitrust case against the Dept of Justice. “A federal judge ruled that Google violated US antitrust law by maintaining a monopoly in the search and advertising markets.” https://www.theverge.com/... W Media Research: Monopoly Ruling Vs Google: For Advertisers, More Choice, Better Products, Lower Prices

Winston Cho /
The Hollywood Reporter: Google's Search Business Violates Antitrust Laws, Court Finds In Major Ruling

Kendra Barnett /
The Drum: Google's search business violates US competition law, judge rules in landmark case

Ashley Belanger /
Ars Technica: Google loses DOJ's big monopoly trial over search business News/Media Alliance: Statement: News/Media Alliance Applauds Department of Justice Ruling Against Google in Landmark Antitrust Lawsuit

404 Media:

Sources: Nvidia scraped sources like Netflix and YouTube to train an unreleased foundational model; concerned staff were told they had full clearance to do so— Nvidia scraped videos from Youtube and several other sources to compile training data for its AI products, internal Slack chats …

Discussion:
Engadget, @ernie@writing.exchange, @timnitGebru@dair …, @samleecole, Futurism, @mkbhd, @josephfcox, @paco@infosec.exchange, @paul@oldfriends.live, @noondlyt@mastodon.social, @minimaxir, Digital Trends, @KimPerales@toad.social, @lilithsaintcrow …, @simon@fedi.simonwillison.net, @minimaxir, @simonw, @jasonkoebler@mastodon.social and @simonw, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Will Shanklin /
Engadget: NVIDIA's AI team reportedly scraped YouTube, Netflix videos without permission

Ernie Smith /
@ernie@writing.exchange: Nvidia's comments on copyright in this are really something. https://www.404media.co/...

Timnit Gebru /
@timnitGebru@dair-community.social: Now let's do Google and OpenAI. — https://www.404media.co/...

Samantha Cole /
@samleecole: Internal Nvidia emails, conversations and documents leaked to 404 Media show how the company built a yet-to-be released video foundation model by scraping copyrighted content and academic datasets https://www.404media.co/...

Maggie Harrison Dupré /
Futurism: Nvidia Caught Stealing Mind-Boggling Quantity of YouTube Videos to Train AI

Marques Brownlee /
@mkbhd: cool cool cool cool cool cool now leaked NVIDIA slack messages discussing which YouTube channels to scrape videos from. MKBHD videos? Yeah grab those too.

Joseph Cox /
@josephfcox: The leak also shows Nvidia scraping Netflix to make its model. Netflix says it does not have a deal with Nvidia, and that it does not allow scraping under its terms of service https://www.404media.co/... [image] @paco@infosec.exchange: So this is bad. I'm sure #YouTube was a little annoyed that individuals could download videos with #ytdlp, but now that #nvidia has been caught doing it at scale, this is going to accelerate their hostility. Kudos to @404mediaco for the great reporting as always. …

Paul Chambers /
@paul@oldfriends.live: This is wild, regardless of if you are pro, con, or indifferent regarding AI. #OpenAI #AI #IPTheft #Pirating — 🔗 Leaked Documents Show #Nvidia Scraping ‘A Human Lifetime’ of Videos Per Day to Train AI — They are getting most if not all of #YouTube and other sites. …

Lauren /
@noondlyt@mastodon.social: They made Huang a king and he believed it. — Leaked Documents Show Nvidia Scraping ‘A Human Lifetime’ of Videos Per Day to Train AI https://www.404media.co/...

Max Woolf /
@minimaxir: I don't even know logistically how you would scrape Netflix. Torrent all the shows? https://x.com/...

Andrew Tarantola /
Digital Trends: Nvidia reportedly caught scraping AI data from Netflix and YouTube (again)

Kim Perales /
@KimPerales@toad.social: #AI is built on fraud & theft: — “We got a massive leak from inside #Nvidia (emails, Slack chats, documents) which show how it created a yet-to-be-released AI model. The leak shows that Nvidia scraped YouTube en masse, had clearance from highest levels of the company.” …

Lili Saintcrow /
@lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com: “Questions from employees working on the project about legal issues were often dismissed by project managers, who said the decision to scrape videos without permission was an “executive decision” that they need not worry about...” https://www.404media.co/...

Simon Willison /
@simon@fedi.simonwillison.net: Fascinating report from 404 Media's Samantha Cole on a trove of leaked NVIDIA Slack messages and emails about how they're scraping millions of YouTube videos to train their own new foundation video generation model: https://www.404media.co/... Posted a few of my own notes here: https://simonwillison.net/... …

Simon Willison /
@simonw: A few weeks ago there was a big response to a story about companies training just on captions scraped from YouTube - captions only, not the video. This NVIDIA story involves the full video content. https://x.com/...

Jason Koebler /
@jasonkoebler@mastodon.social: SCOOP from @samleecole: Leaked Slacks and documents show the incredible scale of NVidia's AI scraping: 80 years — “a human lifetime” of videos every day. Had approval from highest levels of company despite staff legal/ethical concerns: — https://www.404media.co/...

Simon Willison /
@simonw: Not surprising to see NVIDIA doing this - practically the industry standard right now - but interesting to see details of what they're collecting and why: “Movies are actually a good source of data to get gaming-like 3D consistency and fictional content but much higher quality”

The Wrap:

CBS News names Adrienne Roark as president of editorial and newsgathering and Jennifer Mitchell as president of stations and digital, as part of a restructuring— Roark will be president of editorial and newsgathering, and Mitchell will be president of stations and digital

Discussion:
The Desk, CBS News, Radio & Television …, New York Post, Deadline, TVNewsCheck, The Hollywood Reporter and Barrett Media

Discussion:

Alexandra Steigrad /
New York Post: CBS News boss Wendy McMahon revamps management team after exit of controversial executive

Ted Johnson /
Deadline: CBS News And Stations Taps Adrienne Roark And Jennifer Mitchell For Expanded Roles As Part Of New Leadership Structure

Ted Johnson /
TVNewsCheck: CBS Taps Adrienne Roark And Jennifer Mitchell For Expanded Roles As Part Of News Leadership Structure

Reuters:

The European Commission says TikTok agreed to permanently withdraw and not replace TikTok Lite's “Task and Reward Programme” in the EU to comply with the DSA— ByteDance's TikTok has agreed to permanently withdraw its TikTok Lite rewards programme from the EU to comply …

Discussion:
TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, UPI, @carnage4life, Sourcing Journal, @eu_commission, The Information and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Natasha Lomas /
TechCrunch: TikTok Lite: EU closes addictive design case after TikTok commits to not bring back rewards mechanism

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life: TikTok will be shutting down its program which rewarded users with points convertible to Amazon gift cards for watching videos and referring friends. They were under investigation under the EU's DSA for an overly addictive feature aimed at minors. This is the first major DSA win [image]

Meghan Hall /
Sourcing Journal: European Commission Closes DSA Case After TikTok Promises to Nix Lite App @eu_commission: We have closed our first case under the Digital Services Act. TikTok has committed to permanently withdraw TikTok Lite Rewards from the EU and not to launch any other programme circumventing the withdrawal. Their commitments are legally binding and closely monitored ↓ #DSA

Kaya Yurieff /
The Information: TikTok Shutters Rewards Program for TikTok Lite in EU

Lyubov Pronina /
Bloomberg: TikTok Pulls Program EU Warned Could Make Kids App Addicts

Semafor:

The WSJ's explosive report from January about UNRWA's alleged links to Hamas were based on Israeli intel reports the WSJ has been unable to confirm— In January, The Wall Street Journal made an explosive claim: Quoting “intelligence reports,” the paper reported that not only had 12 members …

Discussion:
UPI, Fox News, Reuters, @maxwelltani and New York Post

Discussion:

Fox News:
UN forced to fire 9 employees over likely involvement in Hamas massacre: ‘Tip of the iceberg’

David Brunnstrom /
Reuters: Nine UNRWA staff members were possibly involved in attack on Israel, UN says

Max Tani /
@maxwelltani: New: My look at a January WSJ scoop about intelligence claiming that 10% of UNRWA had ties to Hamas. “The fact that the Israeli claims haven't been backed up by solid evidence doesn't mean our reporting was inaccurate,” the WSJ head of standards said. https://www.semafor.com/... [image]

The Verge:

WBD says it has seen a “meaningful lift” in how long viewers watch content on Max after rolling out a new “whole page optimization” system in the US last month— If you've been on Max lately, you might've noticed more personalized rows of content across your entire homepage.

Discussion:
Variety, The Streamable, @tvgrimreaper and Cord Cutters News

Discussion:

Jennifer Maas /
Variety: Max Launches New Homepage Personalization System: Here's How It Works and What Changes Are Next

David Satin /
The Streamable: Max Revamps Home Screen to Help Viewers Find Better Content Recommendations @tvgrimreaper: Will Max see a meaningful rise in its stagnant tiny measured use? Or is this just PR fluff? [image]

Adweek:

After redesigning its website in June 2024, the AP says monthly page views rose 17%, unique visitors rose 16%, video views rose 89%, digital ad revenue rose 20%— A site redesign helped yield a 20% increase in ad revenue — Last June, The Associated Press began a concerted effort to expand …

Discussion:
Casey Silvestri on LinkedIn and Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn

Discussion:

Casey Silvestri /
Casey Silvestri on LinkedIn: “On the video front, views are up 89%, view time is up 300% and the publisher added 750,000 subscribers to its YouTube channel, putting it north of 3 million total. …

The Hollywood Reporter:

Crooked Media Workers Union members stage a one day walkout after more than a year of contract negotiations with the network behind Pod Save America— The progressive media company, which is home to the podcast ‘Pod Save America,’ has been in negotiations with the union for more than a year.

Discussion:
The Wrap, Writers Guild of America East and Deadline

Discussion:

Jeremy Fuster /
The Wrap: Crooked Media Union Stages One-Day Walkout as WGA East Pressure Increases on ‘Pod Save America’ Production Company

Jason Gordon /
Writers Guild of America East: WGA East Members at Crooked Media Walk Out After More Than a Year of Contract Negotiations

Katie Campione /
Deadline: Crooked Media Union Stages Walkout After More Than A Year Of Contract Negotiations

RELATED:

Bloomberg:
A look at tension at Crooked Media, which produces and releases 14 podcasts, amid staff turnover, an unfair labor practice claim, and big pre-election workloads

Discussion:
@marissabbq, @aherman2006, @max_fisher, @travishelwig and @_eileenie_@threads.net

Discussion:

Marissa /
@marissabbq: Left in 2021, after a return to office plan that wasn't being equally applied to all employees...the union is asking for some pretty simple shit. #keepcrookedprogressive

Alison Herman /
@aherman2006: it is never a recipe for a healthy and functional work environment for a company's entire senior management cadre to be outward facing talent. and that's all I have to say on that!!

Max Fisher /
@max_fisher: As part of @crooked_union fighting for our first contract, we have substantive disagreements with management. But it's just not true the staff is “rebelling” or riven by some grand ideological divide. What I've seen is a company where we're all committed to a shared mission and [image]

Travis Helwig /
@travishelwig: In the past, I've worked good jobs and bad jobs (Ellen DeGeneres made me cry a lot), and I can say without a doubt that Crooked is the best place I've ever worked. I was further left than the hosts on a lot of things too, but I never felt unheard. I genuinely miss working there. @_eileenie_@threads.net: Yeah, pretty hard to take the @podsaveamerica class warriors seriously when the pod bros & their wives buy $10 million homes, and post Insta photos of themselves hobnobbing with celebs and taking exotic, fancy vacations while their employees work 12 days in a row and 12-hour days. https://www.bloomberg.com/...

Nieman Lab:

A Louisiana law that went into effect last week makes it a misdemeanor for reporters or anyone to be within 25 feet of a police officer after being ordered back— “You can't even get an officer's badge number at 25 feet. So there's no way to hold anyone accountable."

Discussion:
@richardawebster and Boing Boing

Discussion:

Richard A. Webster /
@richardawebster: Today a Louisiana law goes into effect making it illegal to come within 25 feet of police, when warned to stay back. Opponents say it is designed to prevent people, including reporters, from filming and exposing police abuses. @veritenewsnola @propublica https://www.shorturl.at/7E1MV

Press Gazette:

BuzzFeed issues a “cease and desist” to Trending Now, which uses AI to aggregate B2B stories, accusing the startup of copyright infringement with its logo— Trending Now accused of copyright infringement with its logo. — Buzzfeed has issued a “cease and desist” …

Bloomberg:

Music streaming has exited its high-growth era, as big streaming services pick up fewer new subscribers, causing revenue shortfalls for music labels— Investors worry the industry has peaked. Label bosses preach patience. — Hollywood is warming up to the promise of artificial intelligence.

Discussion:
@lucas_shaw, Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn, 9to5Mac, Billboard and @rezendi

Discussion:

Lucas Shaw /
@lucas_shaw: After a decade of streaming growth, investors are worried the music industry has peaked. I explored whether their thinking — and what the music industry is doing to prove them wrong: https://www.bloomberg.com/...

Lucas Shaw /
Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn: After a decade of strong growth, the music business is slowing down; investors are worried that record labels have peaked. …

Ben Lovejoy /
9to5Mac: Slow growth for Apple Music and other services acknowledged by world's biggest music label

Glenn Peoples /