OPEN WEB “ALREADY IN RAPID DECLINE” GOOGLE ARGUES IN COURT DOCUMENT

Summary from the TLDR Marketing newsletter

Google argued in a court filing that the open web is already in rapid decline, and a breakup of its ad business would accelerate that trend. It cited AI reshaping ad tech, along with growth in formats like Connected TV and retail media, as reasons ad budgets are shifting away from open-web display advertising. The filing follows concerns about “Google Zero,” the idea that Google search could stop sending traffic to third-party sites, though Google said its AI-enabled search still directs users to a wide range of publishers. WARC data shows online display advertising is stable but growing much more slowly than search and social media advertising.