GERADIN PARTNERS

As I explain in the article below, I always found it a pity that NCAs are not allowed to enforce the DMA by adopting infringement decisions and imposing fines considering the experience and resources that many have. I understand the risk of fragmentation, but it could have been dealt with a coordination system similar to the ECN. https://lnkd.in/eahb8BJr

There is a wide consensus amongst publishers, advertisers and ad tech intermediaries that Google's Privacy Sandbox is not ready to go live in the near future. But Criteo's testing results show that if the Privacy Sandbox stayed as it is it would have devastating consequences on publishers, while making them even more dependent on Google: "Criteo’s first key finding is that if third-party cookies were deprecated today and the Privacy Sandbox released in its current state, we expect publisher revenues to decrease by an average of 60% for those that have fully integrated the Privacy Sandbox. Publisher adoption overall remains below 55%. Second, the current version of the Privacy Sandbox also creates an advantage for Google’s advertising business. Our testing showed that Google Ad Manager (GAM) captured the majority of spend in the treatment population, an increase in market share of 360%: from 23% to 83%. This demonstrates a significant increase in publisher reliance on Google for ad revenue. Third, we observed a median increase of more than 100% latency in publisher ad rendering on Privacy Sandbox traffic. Latency negatively impacts consumer experience due to long page load times. Publisher revenue is likewise impacted due to degraded viewability, click-through rates and price per ad slot." This is extremely worrying. Angela Mills Wade, Mathilde Fiquet, Chris Jenkins, João Vareda https://lnkd.in/eMsfzG_G

In this blog post, I comment on the European Publishers Council (EPC)'s proposals to find a way forward regarding Apple and Google's compliance with the app store-related provisions of the DMA. I hope other associations will support these proposals as they could bring the bitter disputes between app developers and app store gatekeepers to an end. It is great time for these companies to comply with the DMA. European Publishers Council (EPC) Angela Mills Wade https://lnkd.in/eQsTeJ4p

Anyone interested in Apple's and Google's failure to implement the app store-related provisions of the DMA must read this (quite substantive) press release. It represents the most advanced and best thought through attempt to find a way forward to ensure greater contestability and fairness in mobile ecosystems. A true voice of reason. European Publishers Council (EPC) Angela Mills Wade

Great Article by Alex Taylor in The Lawyer about our fast growing firm. The reference to Quinn is that we are more focused on the profit margin than on having palatial offices and large staff. We are also looking for bright and entrepreneurial lawyers with a fighter mentality. Yet, we are extremely collegial, and like to collaborate with other firms. We are also building relationships with regulators as we do not believe in a confrontational approach. https://lnkd.in/eGF24_S3

I am absolutely horrified to learn that Professor Heike Schweitzer has passed away. Heike was one of the luminaries of EU competition law and the co-author of the excellent "Competition policy for the digital era" report commissioned by Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager. Heike was a distinguished scholar, a friend to many and a mentor to countless students and young academics. She left us too early.

This is a great blog post by my colleague Tom Smith whom I am proud to say is the leading expert on the Digital Markets Competition and Consumers (DMCC) that has now been passed. He has been working on this legislation for five years starting when he was a legal director at the Competition and Markets Authority. Since he joined GERADIN PARTNERS in 2021, he has assisted countless clients on the legislative process and what to expect from this regime. https://lnkd.in/evQEu6CP

Great performance of our counsel team during the three day certification hearing at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in our Google ad tech case. Things went according to plan and we are now waiting for the judgment. As always, it was a pleasure collaborating with our friends at Hausfeld and Humphries Kerstetter. Robert O'Donoghue, Gerry Facenna KC, Julian Gregory, Nikolaus Grubeck, Greg Adey, Alison Berridge, Niamh Cleary, Toby Starr, David Lawne, Luke Streatfeild, David Gallagher, Stijn Huijts, Oliver Latham, Mikaël Hervé.