Category: advertising

Twitter Says It Will Relax Ban on Political Advertising

Twitter says it will ease up on its 3-year-old ban on political advertising, the latest change by Elon Musk as he tries to pump up revenue after purchasing the social media platform last year. The company tweeted late Tuesday that “we’re relaxing our ads policy for cause-based ads in the US.” “We also plan to…


Ad Agency Contracted by Feds Says Don’t Buy Twitter Ads: Report

Cosette, a Quebec-based marketing agency that officially purchases advertising for the federal government, has reportedly advised the feds to pause media buying on Twitter, citing mass layoffs and public relations concerns, after the social media platform was purchased by Elon Musk. According to an internal document sent from Cosette and reported on by CBC News, the…


GM Temporarily Halts Paid Advertising on Twitter

General Motors Co. said late on Friday it had temporarily halted paid advertising on Twitter after Elon Musk completed his takeover of the social media company. The largest U.S. automaker said it was “engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership.” Twitter did not immediately respond to a request…


‘Misleading’ HSBC Climate Change Ads Banned by UK Watchdog

The UK’s advertising watchdog has banned two HSBC adverts for giving “misleading” information about the bank’s green credentials. The banned posters were seen at bus stops in London and Bristol last October, in the run-up to the United Nations COP26 climate change summit. The first poster featured an aerial image of waves crashing on a…


Federal Trade Commission Warns of Sophisticated ‘Dark Patterns’ Used to Trick Consumers

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report Thursday about how companies deploy “dark patterns” in advertising for enticing potential customers, manipulating them into making purchases and giving up their privacy in the process. “Our report shows how more and more companies are using digital dark patterns to trick people into buying products and giving…


Musk Targets Ad Tech Firms in Twitter Suit Over Takeover Deal

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who is attempting to walk away from his deal to acquire Twitter Inc., is seeking documents from advertising technology firms as part of his quest to gain more information on bot and spam accounts on Twitter, according to filings in a Delaware court on Thursday. Twitter has sued the Tesla chief…


Ukraine Invasion Expected to Hamper US Ad Market Growth: Forecast

The U.S. advertising market will grow in 2022 but only by half as much as it did in 2021, according to an industry forecast released on Monday that cited both last year’s record growth from the COVID-19 recovery and the economic harm from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Media intelligence firm MAGNA, a unit of…


Google, Meta Face EU, UK Probes Into Ad Bidding Agreement

BRUSSELS—British and European regulators threatened to crack down on Google and Facebook parent Meta over an agreement for online display advertising services, saying Friday that the deal may breach rules on fair competition. The fresh scrutiny in Europe, which has pioneering efforts to rein in big technology companies, strikes at the heart of Google’s business—the…


Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Race: Shapiro Positioned to Outspend Most Republican Candidates

In the Pennsylvania race for governor, Democrat candidate Josh Shapiro has raised more money than all other candidates combined. Shapiro has raised more than $16 million and spent nearly $3 million. He has $13 million left to spend, and because he is unchallenged in the primary, most of that money will be available to outspend…


Facebook, Google CEOs Aware of Formal Advertising Market Deal: Court Filing

WASHINGTON—Chief executives of both Google and Facebook were aware of a deal to carve up part of the online advertising market, according to an amended complaint filed by Texas and other states who have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google. The deal with Facebook, which Google called Jedi Blue, was signed off by Google CEO…