In today’s Digest, we discuss Perplexity bidding billions for Chrome, tech firms stepping up ad fraud crackdown, and streamers slashing scripted TV commissions by a quarter.

Perplexity bids billions for Chrome

Perplexity has offered USD$34.5bn (£25.5bn) in cash to buy Google’s Chrome browser, according to Reuters. The AI search company confirmed to TechCrunch that the unsolicited bid includes keeping Chromium (Chrome’s underlying engine) open source and investing USD$3bn (£2.5bn) into the project. 

Perplexity says it would not alter Chrome’s default settings if its bid succeeds. The company pledges to keep Google as the default search engine instead of replacing it with its own AI-powered service.

Tech firms step up ad fraud crackdown

Meta will allow businesses to report scam ads across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp in bulk. The new option is available through its Brand Rights Protection tool, which previously focused on counterfeit, trademark, copyright and impersonation cases. Businesses will now be able to flag misleading ads that use a brand name without authorisation, even if no intellectual property is directly infringed.

The change follows complaints from brands, academics, journalists, and business leaders over impersonation scams. Matt Rogerson of the Financial Times said such scams damage consumer trust and weaken the information ecosystem. He added that Meta has been singled out by regulators in the UK and US for its role in enabling these scams.

Meanwhile, Google is expanding its use of AI to detect invalid ad traffic. The company says its updated systems, developed with Google Research and DeepMind, use large language models to better identify clicks and impressions from bots, accidental taps and malicious actors. These tools analyse app and web content, ad placements and user interactions to block fake engagement.

Streamers slash scripted TV commissions 

The six largest global streaming platforms cut scripted TV orders by nearly a quarter in the first half of 2025, according to Ampere Analysis. Apple, Amazon, Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix, and Paramount+ commissioned 242 scripted titles worldwide between January and June, down from 318 in the same period last year.

Amazon Prime posted the sharpest decline, more than halving orders due to reduced commissions in India. Apple’s and Netflix’s orders slipped by 4% and 6% respectively.

Western Europe saw commissions fall 44%, while Asia-Pacific dropped 52%, with the latter affected by India’s slowdown. North America held steady with 95 commissions, and Latin America’s commissions grew 17%.

Across the wider industry, excluding the top six streamers, scripted commissions fell 8%.

Ampere Analysis’ research manager Cyrine Amor cited reduced investment in originals, more cautious commissioning, and greater reliance on licensed content. Amor added that “the uncertain economic climate and the prospect of taxation on international productions have further exacerbated these trends.”