CMA Objects to Google’s Ad Tech Practices; TikTok Renews NFL Partnership; YouTube Introduces New Deepfake Detection Tools

by Aimee Newell Tarín on 9th Sep 2024 in News

Today’s news: CMA Objects to Google’s Ad Tech Practices; TikTok Renews NFL Partnership; YouTube Introduces New Deepfake Detection Tools

With Google’s ad stack trial against the DOJ in the US beginning later today, all industry attention is fixed on how it could play out in the courtroom and whether the tech titan’s mighty empire could finally be brought to its knees. On home turf, in a bid to help UK advertisers and publishers, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) released its provisional findings that Google has abused its dominant positions through the operation of both its publisher ad server and buying tools to restrict competition within the region. Its investigation found that Google’s anti-competitive practices could be harming thousands of UK publishers and advertisers.

In the social sphere, TikTok renewed its partnership with the US’ National Football League (NFL) through another multiyear agreement. Collaboration between both parties was first announced back in 2019. The partnership will bring more NFL content to the platform, including more long-form videos to further immerse fans into the NFL. The organisation is currently one of the most followed accounts on the platform, having also launched several regional accounts. We can expect to see immense viewership figures going forward: from the 2023 season alone, the NFL gained over 5 billion TikTok views.

Meanwhile, YouTube has rolled out new tools with the aim of protecting creators and artists on its platform. The features will control “how their likeness, including their face and voice, is represented.” Updates to Content ID – due to be rolled out in a pilot programme in early 2025 – will allow partners to detect and manage AI-generated content which simulates their singing voice. YouTube is also developing tech which allow people such as musicians and athletes to detect and manage AI-generated content depicting their faces on the platform.