JUNE 16, 2000 To better reflect the creative contributions made by editors to spotmaking, the Association of Independent Commercial Editors has changed its name to the Association of Independent Creative Editors (AICE)…. Bicoastal/international @radical.media has broadened its global and creative reach, entering into an association with Zentropa Production, the Copenhagen house founded eight years ago by Danish director Lars von Trier and his business partner Peter Aalbaek Jensen….Co-directors Chuck Bennett and Clay Williams have signed with Crossroads Films, bicoastal and Chicago, for exclusive representation….Director Jeff Kaumeyer has signed with Cylo, the bicoastal/international commercial production and new media house under the aegis of CEO/founder Julie Atherton….Bicoastal commercial production company Go Film has added director Nick Rafter, who comes over after two years at bicoastal/international The End….
JUNE 16, 1995 Unitel Video, New York, announced the retirement of president/CEO John Hoffman, who will take on a consulting role for the company and retain his seat on the board of directors….Ralph Horan has ended his three-year tenure as president of commercial post shop Editel/L.A. to become chief operating officer at digital design and production company RGA/LA….Richard Greenberg has signed an agreement with Dark Light Pictures, West Hollywood, for representation as a director of commercials and select live-action projects, most notably theatrical teaser trailers….Director Neil Tardio has shut down the commercial production activities of Neil Tardio Productions, New York, and joined Emerald Films, New York, for spot representation. Tardio and his son Michael will continue to create and produce international and longform projects through Tardio Productions….
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 โ 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