Three times illegal monopolist Google was laughing all the way to the bank after a judge gave it a slap on the wrist for anticompetitively stealing the world wide web.
Critics (me included) roared that it confirmed that crime pays in America in 2025 - and sure enough, Alphabet’s market cap soared to $3 trillion for the first time ever.
And the publishers, advertisers, competitors, consumers and everyone else crushed beneath its boot? They got nothing.
But we don’t take that kind of injustice lightly here at Scotch and Watch.
This is a weekly live podcast where
and I discuss the collision of Big Media and Big Tech with some AI and real-life stories thrown in to spice things up.It’s been a funny week. First, my iPhone went into meltdown and began texting rude messages to my friends on its own (no joke). Sorry for the F-bomb
. 🫤But the real drama lands next week, with the start of the Google ad-tech remedies trial.
If Judge Leonie Brinkema swings hard, publishers will get real money back and have a chance to compete and survive. If not? It might be time to pack up the open web.
Chris and I discuss the antitrust movement so far, what might have derailed the judge in search ruling, and why ad tech will be the multi-trillion-dollar decider.
We also chat about what’s happening in Europe, what an ad tech break-up might look like, and how we recover from programmatic driving ad prices to the floor.
A good decision from CIA-busting judge Brinkema could put 20c on the dollar back on every publisher in the world. Another bad one, and we’re in dire straits.
The stakes could not be higher. This is Scotch and Watch.
Footnote: Chris and I will be recording Scotch and Watch live on stage at the FIPP World Congress in Madrid next month. Come join us.
And thank you to everyone who tuned in for this live ep. You can join us for the next one in the Substack app. Download it here 👇
