Antitrust Hearings Begin Today

The federal antitrust probe begins today (here's our overview of why Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google are taking the stand), but it's Google who could face the most pressure. It's expected that the U.S. Justice Department will file suit against Alphabet by the end of 2020 over its dominance of the online advertising market.

The crux of the matter is how Google bundles its many services, including its search engine, the Android operating system and YouTube, with its online ad tools that affect advertisers' and media owners' bottom lines—and ultimately the consumer.

Today's digital-only feature goes into great detail how Google has essentially built its own walled garden that requires companies to use its services in order to reach consumers on its platforms. Read the comprehensive explainer here.

Get complete access to Adweek's coverage of the antitrust hearings with an Adweek Pro Subscription.

Over the past two years, NBCUniversal has aggressively cut ad loads. It started in 2018 with a 10% reduction in ads, but the network continued cutting in 2019, and the trend accelerated this year due to the pandemic. During Adweek's four-day virtual summit NexTech, NBCUniversal's Linda Yaccarino discussed how streaming newcomer Peacock's free ad-supported tier, exemplifies that mentality with less than five minute of ads per hour of content. Read on to get the scoop on where Yaccarino sees the network's ad strategy heading.

Also during NexTech, The Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green echoed this sentiment, saying that the industry has done a poor job of explaining the "quid pro quo" of ads—that users see relevant ads in exchange for free content. The discussion focused on how the company's second iteration of its Unified ID (which was announced yesterday), an open-source sign-on solution for the open web that removed third-party cookies from the equation, helps meet that need.

Today’s NexTech lineup (all times E.T.):

Register for NexTech here.

The Television Academy has nominated five ads as the best of the best from the past year for the Outstanding Commercial category of the 2020 Emmy Awards. Past winners include Nike's "Dream Crazy" in 2019 and Procter & Gamble’s “The Talk,” in 2018. Watch all the nominees here.

Donald Trump Jr.’s Twitter account was temporarily limited—disabling his ability to tweet, retweet, like posts or follow accounts—after he posted a video that spread misinformation about the pandemic. The platform forced him to delete the video, which showed a doctor praising hydroxychloroquine as a treatment and claiming that masks do not prevent the spread of the virus.

If you're feeling the itch to travel the world during lockdown, Ikea in Dubai is selling “vacation in a box” kits to transport customers to destinations around the world, including Paris, Turkey, the Maldives and Tokyo. Each one comes with a selection of themed Ikea products such as pillows, tableware, candles and artwork inspired by the locations.

More of Today's Top News and Highlights

After UK rap artist Tinie Tempah released a song titled "Whoppa," Burger King predictably reached out on Twitter to suggest a collab. The chain printed special QR codes on Whopper packaging that generate a miniature “hyper realistic” 360-degree virtual Tinie who performs the track while dancing on top of the burger.

The rapid evolution of emerging technology, from virtual reality, mixed reality and voice to the Internet of Things, has led to a multitude of creative solutions to engage and win over the consumer. Today during NexTech, hear from platform pros like IBM, Visa, Anheuser-Busch, Jounce Media and more on what’s working, what’s not and what’s next. Save your virtual seat for free and join over 3,500 industry attendees tuning in at 1 p.m. ET.

Join us in this exciting exploration of Snap and all the cool things Kenny and his team have been up to from growing users in target markets to driving awareness of all the features (AR, games, maps), to developing new capabilities like minis (mini utilities) and action bars. Find out how this social media platform’s “pain in the ass” requirement to develop vertical content early on paid off as truly optimized for today’s mobile user and how Snap has evolved into a content platform, participating in the New Fronts for the first time this year.

The battery-powered car will cost up to $74,500.

Fan-made film may be featured in a commercial.

Automated technology keeps hospitality areas safe during pandemic.

CEO Paul Hanges on Facebook, customer acquisition and speeding up work.

Discount chain has visibility into customers' entire shopping journey.