Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) has added to its roster of data and technology-fueled marketing service providers with the launch of Performance Art, a global agency that brings together deep data, technology and CRM expertise with notable creative talent. CEO Andrea Cook, chief creative officer Ian Mackenzie, and chief operating officer Elizabeth Sellors, the leadership team that helped build FCB/SIX, will take the helm at Performance Art in analogous roles. The agency will partner closely with a range of IPG companies and build on the company’s foundational data and technology layers at Acxiom and Kinesso in order to provide clients with data-driven marketing solutions. Performance Art will build on a founding roster of existing talent and clients, including BMW, CIBC, and Black & Abroad. The team at Performance Art is known for its ability to combine data and technology with platform-level creative ideas for clients–producing global work that has been widely lauded. Notably, FCB/SIX Toronto’s “Go Back to Africa” initiative for Black & Abroad won the Creative Data Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2019. The campaign used AI and data to reframe the way people think about Africa and created a platform that displaces the hate surrounding the racial slur. Separately, FCB/SIX, part of the IPG family, will continue to operate as an integrated global unit within the FCB network, reporting into Tina Allan, FCB’s newly appointed global partner, data science and connections….
A Closer Look At Proposed Measures Designed To Curb Google’s Search Monopoly
U.S. regulators are proposing aggressive measures to restore competition to the online search market after a federal judge ruled Google maintained an illegal monopoly for the last decade.
The sweeping set of recommendations filed late Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice could radically alter Google's business, including possibly spinning off the Chrome web browser and syndicating its search data to competitors. Even if the courts adopt the blueprint, Google isn't likely to make any significant changes until 2026 at the earliest, because of the legal system's slow-moving wheels.
Here's what it all means:
What is the Justice Department's goal?
Federal prosecutors are cracking down on Google in a case originally filed during near the end of then-President Donald Trump's first term. Officials say the main goal of these proposals is to get Google to stop leveraging its dominant search engine to illegally squelch competition and stifle innovation.
"The playing field is not level because of Google's conduct, and Google's quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an advantage illegally acquired," the Justice Department asserted in its recommendations. "The remedy must close this gap and deprive Google of these advantages."
Not surprisingly, Google sees things much differently. The Justice Department's "wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision," Kent Walker, Google's chief legal officer, asserted in a blog post. "It would break a range of Google products — even beyond search — that people love and find helpful in their everyday lives."
It's still possible that the Justice Department could ease off on its attempts to break up Google, especially if President-elect Donald Trump... Read More