U.S. ad spending will rise only two percent in 2008 as compared to the 3.7 percent gain predicted in December '07. That's the revised forecast from Magna Global's Robert Coen, senior VP/director of forecasting, when looking ahead to all of '08 when stacked up against the industry's performance in '07. The revision is particularly dismaying in that '08 is a Summer Olympics and a presidential election year, which normally translates into a major jump in ad spending. However, a seriously weakened economy triggered by the escalating cost of fuel and food, and the home mortgage crisis have put a major damper on prospects for '08….BBDO Atlanta has brought three key artisans on board: Chuck Meehan as senior creative director, Dana Xavier as director of digital operations and Vegard Soehus as research director. Additionally, design director Paul Huggett has been promoted to senior VP and Kyle Lewis has been upped from senior VP/creative director to exec creative director. Meehan comes over from GSD&M, Austin, Texas. Xavier had been at Atlanta agency 22 Squared. And Soehus' previously worked as a managing consultant at the Zyman Group and spent 10 years at The Coca-Cola Company where he helped to lead strategic planning and marketing science efforts across 35-plus countries in Europe and Asia….
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