The International ANDY Awards, under the stewardship of new chairman Ty Montague, has named Michael Lebowitz, founder/CEO of Brooklyn, N.Y.-based indie digital agency Big Spaceship, as co-chairman. A first for the ANDY Awards, the sharing of the chairmanship reflects the changes taking place in advertising.
“In recent years, many creative awards shows have spun off digital shows to support the enormous role that interactive plays in the marketing landscape,” said Montague, co-president/chief creative officer, JWT North America. “The ANDYs haven’t done this, believing that integrated campaigns need to be evaluated in a single show. However, we recognize the rapidly evolving nature of our industry and the importance of digital work to have its deservedly prominent place in our show. Michael and I will be working closely together to accomplish this for the ANDYs.”
Some of the ways the collaborative vision of Montague and Lebowitz will impact the ANDY Awards include expanding the Show’s digital communications (marketing campaign, call for entry, etc.), increasing the number of digital creative leaders on the jury, and developing unique categories that enable highly innovative work to be submitted.
Lebowitz founded Big Spaceship in 2000. He is a board member of the Society of Digital Agencies, and a member of AIGA’s Visionary Design Council and the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More