27/New York: Director/cameraman Cosimo Scianna’s "Textures," a collection of fine art photography at the Wickiser Gallery. Info, call Roberta Lawrence, (212) 627-0297 or Irene Scianna, (212) 206-1818…. May 23-25/Miami: 1999 Film Florida Conference at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Info, call Annie Perez, (305) 375-3288….May 25/New York: Media Services’ Feature Production Software Seminar. RSVP, (212) 366-9390….May 27/Los Angeles: Media Services’ Commercial Production Software Seminar. RSVP, (310) 440-9654….June 1/New York: Media Services’ Commercial Production Software Seminar. RSVP, (212) 366-9390….June 2/New York: Cannes Prediction Event hosted by Leo Burnett Co.; (312) 220-4795….June 2-6/New York: docfest, New York International Documentary Festival. Susan Norget, (212) 477-3194….June 3-4/Chicago: 32nd Annual U.S. International Film and Video Festival awards. Info, (630) 834-7773….June 8-9/New York: 8th Annual AICP Show & Lecture Series at MoMA. Jennifer Jacovsky and Ileana Montalvo, (212) 475-2600….June 9-12/San Francisco: PROMAX & BDA’s 1999 Conference & Exposition at the Moscone Convention Center. Info, call (310) 788-7600…. June 10-15/Montreux, Switzerland: Montreux Symposium ’99 looking at the challenges arising from digital and HD technology. For info, call 41 (21) 963-3220 or email message@symposia.ch…. June 15/New York: Freelance Producers Network meeting at Creative Management Partners. Contact, (917) 933-5566….June 15/Palo Alto, Calif.: Communication Arts magazine’s 40th annual juried competition for graphic design and advertising. Deadline for submitting entries is June 15. Info, www.commarts.com….June 16-19/ Washington: American Advertising Federation’s 1999 American Advertising Conference. Speakers include Gen. Colin Powell, Lillian Vernon, Bob Kuperman, and Ed Wax. Info, (800) 999-2231, ext. 356; www. aaf.org….June 17/Chicago: Chicago ADDY awards/Chicago Show. (312) 321-9464…. June 17/Short Hills, N.J.: Gianettino & Meredith (G&M) Workshop Series. Branding: Understanding Critical Bridges Between the Consumer, the Brand and the Company. Info, Pat Tesman, (800) 497-0622, ext. 414; www.gandmagency.com….
June 21-26/Cannes: 46th International Advertising Festival. Info, (212) 752-5774….June 23/Cannes: International meeting of Heads of TV Production Group. Info, The Source, (800) 525-0230….July 13-19/Sydney, Australia: SMPTE ’99 Conference at the Darling Harbour Exhibition and Convention Center. Info, 61 (2) 99.77.08.88 or www.exevents.com.au….July 21/New York: 1999 ITS Annual Forum at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Contact Monica Mathis, (703) 319-0800….August 8-13/Los Angeles: SIGGRAPH 99 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Info, call Sheila Hoffmeyer or Ann Kilhoffer, (312) 644-6610, fax: (312) 245-1083, or email media-s99@siggraph.org….September 16-18/Portland, Ore.: Portland Creative Conference at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. Speakers include Matt Groening, production designer Eugenio Zanetti, cartoonist John Callahan and Disney animation producer Don Hahn. Info, (800) 597-0099/(503) 234-1641; www.cre8con.org….Sept. 24-27/New York: The 107th AES Convention at the Jacob K. Javits Center. Contact AES, (212) 661-8528 or www.aes.org….Oct. 21-23/Mumbai (Bombay), India: Broadcast India ’99 Exhibition & Symposium at the World Trade Centre. Info, (91-22) 215 1396, 215 2721 or www.saicom.com/broadcastindia….Nov. 19-22/New York: 141st SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition’s "Sprockets, Samples, and Satellites: Moving Images Into the Third Millennium," at the New York Marriott Marquis. Contact: Bryan Nella, (914) 761-1100 or Website www.smpte.org….Jan. 25-27/New Orleans: 37th Annual NATPE Program Conference & Exhibition. Info, (310) 453-4440; www.natpe.org….
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