Multicultural agency commonground has brought veteran producer Brendan O’Malley on board as executive producer of both broadcast and digital across all businesses in New York. Prior to joining commonground, O’Malley ran his own graphics production company and has spent the last three years on an extended assignment producing TV, radio and Internet content for the Asian/American market for Verizon and Subaru. He spent 18 years as sr. partner/executive producer at Ogilvy NY creating award winning work on several blue-chip brands including American Express, Miller Lite, Maxwell House Coffee, Post Cereals, NYNEX, Dove, SAP and Delta. A Brooklyn-born native, O’Malley got started in advertising at Young & Rubicam NY after graduating from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Cinematography. O’Malley has worked as an art director, copywriter, film director and producer. He is a voting member of the Directors Guild and the Emmys. Additionally, O’Malley has produced advertising work that has won Cannes Lions, ADDY’s, One Show, Clio’s, Effies, 3AF and is Emmy nominated….Director John Poliquin has joined Hiccup Media, the hybrid creative strategy, content production and post house founded in 2006 by former agency producer Rob Simone and editor/director Michael Cruz. Fashion/lifestyle helmer Poliquin’s credits include Urban Outfitters, Diet Coke, Burberry and H&M. Poliquin is also known for his music video work, which includes a 2012 Juno Award win. He also directed the 2011 found-footage horror film Grave Encounters and its 2012 sequel Grave Encounters 2, as well as shot videos for “The Next Star,” a popular talent show airing on the youth-oriented Canadian television network YTV….Flame artist Chris DeCristo has joined Los Angeles-based digital production and design company Timber as Lead Flame. DeCristo has amassed a broad body of work over his many years in production and VFX. He has freelanced for visual effects and design studios before landing at Timber, including Superfad, Digital Domain, Method and Psyop. During that time he lent his talents to numerous advertising campaigns for brands including Sony, IBM, Hyundai, Kia, HP, Lexus, Bacardi and Nike. Prior to his time freelancing, DeCristo cut his teeth at CBS Digital (CBS Television) where he worked for 12 years, nine of which were as a VFX supervisor/flame artist. He became a sr, Flame artist in 2001 and went on to supervise many top TV shows, including Touched By an Angel, X-Files and The Sopranos, and was twice nominated for an Emmy….
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