The Escape Pod, an independent advertising agency in Chicago, has named Heather Hayden as its director of talent. Formerly sr. creative recruiter at Havas Worldwide Chicago, Hayden will be responsible for recruiting and retaining top talent and building upon the agency’s unique culture during a time of significant growth. Hayden’s appointment follows The Escape Pod’s recent acquisition of digital experience studio ORA Interactive, which grew the agency’s headcount by 30 percent and bolstered its full-service capabilities.
Hayden is an industry veteran with extensive experience on both the agency and production sides. She has held account management roles at Element 79, FCB Chicago, J. Walter Thompson Worldwide, and Flair Communications, as well as serving as Midwest production company representative for Santa Monica, Calif.-based Hum Music, Chicago-based MK Films and NYC-based The Wilderness.
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