Denise Turner, head of sales at bicoastal HSI Productions, abruptly resigned from the company Jan. 20 after three and a half years; reached by SHOOT, Turner said her leaving was amicable and prompted by her desire to "explore new opportunities," which may or may not be within the industry….Sarah Holbrook has signed bicoastal Elias Associates for exclusive East Coast representation through her New York-based Holbrook, in association with Astrow Ziegler…Santa Monica-based Keri Weber and San Francisco resident Traci Meyer have teamed to launch independent repping firm Superglu. The new venture handles the West Coast and Texas for bicoastal Reactor Films and Backyard Productions, Santa Monica and Chicago. Superglu also covers Texas and the West Coast (excluding Los Angeles) for bicoastal Moxie Pictures….Director/cameraman Bob Carmichael’s Malibu-based Denali Productions has lined up national representation: Rich Schafler of Benson/Schafler, New York, handles the East Coast; Chicago-based Jack Lewis covers the Midwest; Dallas-based Faith Kuczaj oversees the Southeast; and Sherry Howell and Donna Woodroof will rep Denali on the West Coast. Denali’s Carmichael specializes in extreme sports and action commercials, offering expertise in aerial, marine and mountain shooting. Company exec. producer is Doug Millington….Motion graphic design studio Blind Visual Propaganda, Venice, Calif., has signed San Francisco and Los Angeles-based Reber/Covington for exclusive West Coast, Texas and Detroit representation….
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