UK probe paints Google and Meta as modern day highwaymen

A multi-year investigation by British regulators reveals the depth of platform monopoly and leads to calls to follow the US to break them up...

Good morning, and welcome to Future Media on a sunny Wednesday in Australia.

Welcome to new subs from Puck News, Google, Microsoft, CNN, the New York Times, the Financial Times, Business Insider, the UK Mirror, Germany’s DW, TV producer Contentplace, and news.com.au in Australia.

There’s also a new subscriber from the UK’s communications regulator OFCOM, which is good timing, because…

…today I’m diving into the numbers that have spooked the UK Government enough to drop an axe on Big Tech.

Recently, I’ve been spending more time and energy working with European and British media companies.

I’ve been invited to address the United Nations in Geneva next week on the future of media, monetisation, AI and democracy.

To prepare, I’ve read the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s multi-year investigation into platforms and the digital ad market.

It’s long and very deep, but today I’m sharing some headlines, numbers and findings, that the UK believes justifies them breaking Google and Meta up.

In…