Google and Facebook Turn On the Fake Riviera Charm -- Bloomberg

From a timely digital advertising reality check

"It’s not a new threat. Ever since Google bought DoubleClick in 2007, letting advertisers buy ad spots directly online using real-time auction systems, there have been mutterings about Silicon Valley encroachment onto Madison Avenue turf. But there’s no denying that the power of Google and Facebook is increasing rapidly, as is shown by their quarter share of all the world’s advertising dollars.

And the irony is that just as the EU is trying to limit the tech giants’ dominance, its new, much-praised General Data Protection Regulation may in fact make it harder to break Google and Facebook’s stranglehold on digital ads.

While the agencies are racing to beef up their own internet businesses, the amount of personal data held by the Silicon Valley duo is already vast — and the new GDPR rules will deepen the competitive moat around it."

Google and Facebook Turn On the Fake Riviera Charm -- Bloomberg