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Week in Review
Regulating Big Tech
- House Judiciary lawmakers opened a bipartisan antitrust investigation into whether Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Facebook Inc. and other tech giants have gained too much power and engaged in anti-competitive activities. The announcement comes shortly after reports that the Justice Department is laying the groundwork to investigate Google and Apple Inc. and that the Federal Trade Commission has secured jurisdiction over any inquiries concerning Amazon and Facebook.
Advertising
- Facebook’s Instagram will soon allow advertisers to promote posts from social media influencers they work with, pushing branded posts into the feeds of users who may not follow the influencers or the brands. Branded content ads, which will come with a “paid partnership with” tag, will be available to advertisers in the “coming weeks” for in-feed and in the “coming months” for stories.
Privacy
- New downloads of Mozilla Corp.’s Firefox browser will now automatically block third-party cookies, matching Apple’s move to block certain kinds of online tracking from Safari. That means Google’s Chrome is the only major browser without such default privacy tools.
New ventures
- Amazon will start using self-piloted drones to deliver packages to customers in the coming months, although the company did not provide a specific timeline or locations where the drones will make deliveries. Jeff Wilke, head of Amazon’s retail, said the drones can fly up to 15 miles, deliver in 30 minutes and carry goods that weigh up to 5 pounds, such as a paperback book or toothpaste.
- Walmart Inc. will revive a program that restocks the groceries in customers’ refrigerators, a service the retail giant tested in 2017 for one year, partnering with smart security company August Home and the courier firm Deliv. The service, which will now be staffed by Walmart employees wearing cameras during delivery, will be available to 1 million customers this fall in three cities: Kansas City, Mo., Pittsburgh and Vero Beach, Fla.
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What’s Ahead
- Recode’s annual invitation-only Code Conference kicks off tomorrow, June 10 in Arizona to talk all things tech. Speakers include Stacey Abrams, former Georgia House Minority Leader and founder of Fair Fight; Delta Air Lines Inc. CEO Ed Bastian; CEO of Amazon’s Web Services Andy Jassy; and executives from Facebook, Twitter Inc. and Netflix Inc. among others.
- CNN’s White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s new book, “The Enemy of the People,” will be released on June 11.
- Earnings season has slowed down, for now, but look for reports from Sears Holdings Corp. and Lululemon Athletica Inc. this week, among others.
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Events Calendar (All Times Local)
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Morning Consult Brands Top Reads
1) Instagram will now let advertisers put more ‘influencer’ ads in your feed
Megan Graham, CNBC
2) Robert De Niro’s Bagel Caper
Alex Webb, Bloomberg
3) Americans Are Now Spending More Time on Devices Than Watching TV
Olga Kharif, Bloomberg
4) Gillette lauded for groundbreaking transgender ad that champions gender inclusivity
Imogen Watson, The Drum
5) In Data-Driven World, Consumers Likely to Overestimate Their Information’s Value
Sam Sabin, Morning Consult
6) Amazon says drones will be making deliveries in ‘months’
Joseph Pisani, The Associated Press
7) Those Tiny Hotel Toiletry Bottles Are on Their Way Out
Christine Hauser, The New York Times
8) Apple Will Block Marketers’ Access to Email Addresses
Garett Sloane, Ad Age
9) Forecast: OTT Revenues To Hit $23.7 Billion By 2023
Wayne Friedman, MediaPost
10) This statistic is a key reason why Walmart, Target and Costco are thriving while other retailers aren’t
Lauren Thomas, CNBC
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