Bill Dickinson has returned to Shelly Ward Enterprises (SWE) to assume the post of general manager. He brings 20 years of experience in the car prep industry, commercial film and management. Dickinson is well known within the agency and production communities for his long stewardship of the Saturn and BMW North America accounts.
Dickinson’s mission is to enhance the Shelly Ward Enterprises brand established 38 years ago by car prep pioneer Shelly Ward. In addition, Dickinson will be assisting in the launch of WPA (Ward Production Associates) based out of Austin, Texas.
Kimberlee Augustine, partner and CFO at Shelly Ward Enterprises, noted, “We have for decades witnessed first-hand the interplay within the agency-production-car prep triad. The combination of SWE and WPA will ignite the untapped synergy inherent in uniting director/production, driving/stunt coordination, car prep and logistics talent all under one roof.”
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More