Google vs. ad trackers, Facebook’s staying power, and the TV giants’ dilemma

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Hello!

This past week brought fresh signs that the tech giants are in charge, as if we didn’t know that already.

First, Google is planning to make it easier for people to use the biggest web browser, Chrome, without being tracked by companies other than Google. Lauren Johnson broke down the implications:

It’ll limit advertisers’ and publishers’ ability to make money from targeted ads but may be a boon for privacy.
Google stands to win since it has reams of its own data across its own search, email and video services that can be used for ad targeting, while Facebook has the resources to withstand onerous rules and regulations.

Also last week, Chris Hughes’ call to break up Facebook was an opportunity to examine how Facebook became such an advertising powerhouse, despite years of measurement missteps and other scandals — and what it’ll take for advertisers to abandon it. Key points:

Advertisers might abandon Facebook if targeting limitations hamper its effectiveness.
The beneficiaries of such a shift are likely to be Google and Amazon, though.

Meanwhile, with upfronts in full force this week, the TV business has stalled in efforts to come together and agree on how to modernize how TV is bought and sold — moves that could help them fend off the rise of Google and Facebook. That could change as TV starts feeling the pinch from advertisers cobbling together enough audience on digital platforms that they don’t need TV as much.

This is your weekly Advertising and Media Insider newsletter, where we recap all the big stories we worked on this past week. What did we miss? Send me tips or feedback at lmoses@businessinsider.com.

Here are other stories we’ve been reporting. (Read most of the articles here by subscribing to BI Prime; use promo code AD2PRIME2018 for a free month.)

An ESPN exec explains how the network is embracing Amazon’s Twitch to fuel growth
Just about every sports media company is trying to cash in on esports. Ashley Rodriguez talked to ESPN’s Kevin Lopes about how it’s experimenting with platforms like Twitch and YouTube to figure it out.

‘It’s a contrarian take’: A prominent ad-tech veteran is pumping money into advertising and marketing companies — even as the industry faces doom and gloom
The rise of the tech giants also has figured into the boom and bust in ad tech companies. Lauren spoke to longtime tech exec-turned-investor Eric Franchi about why he still sees some bright spots out there in ad tech startups.

YouTube is trying to resurrect 6-second ads, but data suggests that advertisers have moved on
The story of 6-second ads shows how hard it is to change industry practice. The format was supposed to be an answer to dwindling attention spans, but it’s hard for advertisers to figure out how to deliver a memorable message in 6 seconds.

The New York Times is starting a new parenting site with an eye toward subscriptions, but it faces big online competition
The Times has launched its third vertical, NYT Parenting, that will eventually turn into a subscription product. We broke down the challenges it’ll face with this vertical that it might not have encountered before.

Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Quibi has poached a key Snap ad sales exec as it ramps up its pitch to big brands like P&G and Anheuser-Busch
The forthcoming mobile streaming video company has hired Marni Schapiro, Snap’s former director of retail sales, as its head of North America advertising sales. She may have an upward battle — a source pitched on Quibi sponsorships has called the amount of money sought "outrageous."

Here are other stories in tech, media, and advertising you should check out:

Inside the editing of ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ which included drastic changes to Black Widow’s big moment and the time-travel scenes

Uber blew as much as $3.2 billion on advertising alone in 2018 on its way to one of the biggest US IPOs on record

Amazon built its $26 billion cloud with developers, but Microsoft is spending big bucks and changing its game to woo developers to its camp

HBO’s new Muhammad Ali doc tells the boxer’s story in his own voice thanks to 4 years of archival digging

Shake Shack is on a growth tear. Here’s how its first chief marketing officer plans to use his angel investing, film production, and political activism background to steer the brand through its next phase.

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