ARCHIVES ADVERTISING iTOONS INDEX TERMS EMAIL eSTORE SHOW HACK! LINKS PODCASTS KOMIX

cyberbarf

THE SEARCH FOR PROFITS NEWS

Google has been the Search Engine King for a long, long time. It is the most popular search engine. It pays browser platforms to default Google Search. It uses Google Search to sell its advertising programs, which claim to promote businesses to the top of the first search result page. Google spends billions to make billions. But is this popular business model legal?

A federal judge has ruled that Google has illegal monopolies in ad technology. US prosecutors can now seek a breakup of Google. The case was about advertising business, and not directly about search although there is a separate antitrust case about Google search bossiness. The Justice Department's ad technology case revolved around Google Network, a division of the business that manages its auction-style system that advertisers use to purchase digital ad space. The ad tech chooses what ad to put where at what cost. Federal prosecutors said that Google's power over the ad tech allows it to illegally fend off competition, which hurts web publishers, such as news outlets. Google argued that it beat out rivals with its superior technology, a defense used by many large tech companies that create innovative and popular intellectual property.

Advertising accounted for about 75 percent of Google's parent's $350.02 billion in revenue for 2024. The Google Network business accounted for only 8.7 percent of the revenue. The Justice Department had been seeking, at a minimum, the divestiture of Google Ad Manager, a platform within the Network division. The net effect would be a drop in revenues of less than 10 percent. Google has even been open to some ad tech divestiture. Reuters first reported last fall that Google itself offered to sell its advertising exchange, which is part of Google Ad Manager, to appease European antitrust regulators.

Google will now face the possibility of two different federal courts ordering it to sell assets or change its business practices. A judge in Washington will hold a trial in the DOJ's antitrust case to make Google sell its Chrome browser and take other measures to end its dominance in online search. The DOJ claims Google used classic monopoly-building tactics of eliminating competitors through acquisitions, locking customers in to using its products, and controlling how transactions occurred in the online ad market. Google argued the case focused on the past, when the company was still working on making its tools able to connect to competitors' products.

But Google is not alone in its legal troubles. Meta is facing a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) antitrust trial. Prosecutors have emphasized a 2012 email where Mark Zuckerberg suggested that Facebook could buy Instagram to “neutralize a potential competitor,” The New York Times reported. It is claimed that the Meta CEO was concerned that Messenger was not beating WhatsApp and Instagram was growing so much faster than Meta platforms that Meta could buy them for $1 billion, then not totally kill them off. These messages and others, the FTC hopes to convince the court, provide evidence that Zuckerberg runs Meta by the mantra it's better to buy than compete. The FTC has to prove that Meta could not have achieved its dominance today without buying Instagram and WhatsApp (in 2012 and 2014, while legal experts told the NYT that it is “extremely rare” to unwind mergers approved so many years ago.

Antitrust laws are created to protect consumers from unfairly high prices and the lack of competitive to sustain markets. Since large tech companies have made billions in profits, regulators are keen on investigating how these firms got so big so fast. The key to these cases is not that the tech company created popular computer programs (which in themselves is protected IP that includes a form of monopoly protection) but the means of supporting their business profits by manipulating their markets to their advantage, by setting up preferences they controlled to buying out rivals in order to stifle free competition.

cyberbarf

SCORECARD OF DOOM OPINION

In the first 100 days of Donald Trump's second term, chaos reigns supreme. What has he done and how is it being gauged?

Trump's use of tariffs based on flawed logic has created trade wars between our closest allies (and in some cases in violation of current trade agreements). It is in the process of disrupting global trade back to the levels of the COVID crisis.

Alan Musk's dodgy DOGE Department of Government Efficiency has been losing in court challenges over firing of employees (including those covered by union collective bargaining agreements), firing independent agency heads, spending unappropriated money for severance packages, and accessing private and confidential information at various agencies including Social Security and the IRS.

The Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling that Trump administration bring back a man who was deported without legal due process. However, the administration has done nothing to resolve the situation. Its officials now face contempt of court sanctions. This sets up to be a constitutional crisis between two branches of government duty bound to uphold the law.

ICE agents arrested a local Wisconsin judge for allegedly interfering in an arrest of an illegal alien who was in her courtroom.

Trump's diplomacy in Ukraine is part-tantrum against Ukraine's president and part-appeasement of Russian tyrant Putin.

Trump's attacks and unilateral withdraw of funds, grants and aid to charity organizations, and universities are also being litigated in court.

Trump's revengeful attacks on lawyers and their law large firms who prosecuted him by taking away government contract work or security clearances are being harshly criticized in both legal and news communities.

Trump's lawsuit against an Iowa pollster who claimed Harris had a huge lead amongst Iowa voters prior to the election is such an embarrassment and flawed legal argument that it could lead to sanctions for filing a frivolous case wasting the court's time.

Trump's reduction in half of the IRS staff just prior to tax filing season made people wonder if Trump thinks that if he eliminates the IRS he won't have to pay taxes ever again.

Trump is threatening to impeach any judge who rules against him. He has no authority to impeach any judge.

Trump continues to try to muzzle news organizations for distorting news reports unfavorably to him. His FCC chairman is pushing for regulation over all news reports to fact-check journalists. Another clear violation of the First Amendment.

Trump administration officials in the FDA and HHS have started to stop doing their agency jobs such as food and drug inspections and approvals, and vaccination funding and education, to de-regulate and appease conspiracy theorists.

As we wrote last month, the problem is that Trump does not care. He must believe that as a sitting President, he is immune from any liability for his actions. He seems hell-bent on not slowing down. For all the vile, ranting and demands, he has only harmed the people who elected him.

cyberbarf

QUICK BYTES CYBERCULTURE

EARWORMS. It was recently reported that eighteen (18) percent of all new uploaded music to streaming platforms such as Spotify are AI generated music. It is probably more. That does not matter. What matters is that most consumers cannot tell the difference between a real artist singing and performing a song compared to an artificially generated song. The newer versions of audio AI can mimic real singers, especially country style, with a passing grade. Professional musicians can tell the difference. Like other artists, they are not happy about it. But with the invention of ProTools and other audio production tech to correct notes, pitch, tempo and harmony, it was only a matter of time humans could be replaced in the creative process.

JUST YUCK . Horse racing used to be the Sport of Kings. Breeding the fastest horse made the owner money in prize purses and at the gambling window. Gambling is so massive and in your face, it cannot be avoided in daily life. There is a new form of racing slash gambling which makes one question everything. Sperm Racing, a group of young moguls and millionaires who raised over $1 million to back this new kind of Derby took place April 25 at the Hollywood Palladium in front of thousands of spectators, People can now bet on which man has the faster sperm. Yes, sperm racing is a thing. Under a video microscope, a tech will determine which racer crosses the finish line first. And apparently, no egg is involved . . . thank god.

BAD IDEAS GETTING WORSE. Adobe is advertising heavily its latest AI program designed for small business owners. It claims the ability to design web sites, integrate web commerce, and create legal contracts. The last one may draw ire from the legal community because many states still consider programs like this the unauthorized practice of law in their jurisdiction. But the worst part of it is the fact that no one legal contract fits all. An attorney gives advice based upon the law and experience to protect his or her client from harm. AI has no real world experience to protect a small business person from harm. It is being sold as a turnkey subscription service. Who needs professional help? Until it is too late.

CRY WOLF, AGAIN. A genetic engineering company claimed that it re-created the extinct dire wolf species by manipulating 40 DNA links on a current canine host. Most people are not convinced that the dire wolf is back, just a normal wolf with some old traits like size. It is a hybrid, a variant of gray wolves, as many of the genetic changes that create their large size and pale coat already exist in some gray wolf populations. But the Jurassic Park element of the story is what regular people get excited about, not the ethical or scientific implications of this work.

iToons

cyberbarf

FOUND BUT NOT LOST ON THE INTERNET

Gamers and streamers may grind through hundreds of hours and cases of Red Bull to complete a complex video game to meet and conquer the Final Boss. But in a long flashback to schoolyard games, this t-shirt sums up the state of gaming in a humorous way. Bravo.

Source: instagram

Canada is in the midst of a stupid trade war started by the Pumpkin President. There is a breaking point even for newspapers who attempt to report and analyze the news objectively. However, the Toronto Star editors had enough.

Source: facebook

The latest version of AI image generator kicked off the huge social media wave of taking photographs and making them into Studio Ghibli art. The studio's founder, Miyazaki, is adamantly against AI generated art as he called it "an insult to Life itself." Artists, including cyberbarf's publisher, hated this AI trend. In protest, real artists drew their paintings in the Ghibli style.

Source: instagram and pindermedia.com

An interesting graphic popped up in our feed. Human intelligence is measured by a set of objective, logical tests. It is usually done to compare individuals but this source expanded it to show which countries have the highest collective IQ. Clearly, the top six have societal values that drives parents to educate their children to the maximum level.

Source: instagram

With the spring rainy season starting, very few people may have been able to see another one of those cosmic alignments. Last year's Big Sky watch was the full lunar eclipse. But this last alignment has the heavens literally smiling down up us.

Source: facebook

cyberbarf

THE WHETHER REPORT

cyberbarf

STATUS

Question: Whether the election of a new Catholic Pope will increase church attendance?

* Educated Guess

* Possible

* Probable

* Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

* Doubtful

* Vapor Dream

Question: Whether Trump's tariff wars will cause a global recession in 2025?

* Educated Guess

* Possible

* Probable

* Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

* Doubtful

* Vapor Dream

Question: Whether Trump's erratic behavior, market volatility and the billionaire class losing massive amounts of wealth lead a call for impeachment?

* Educated Guess

* Possible

* Probable

* Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

* Doubtful

* Vapor Dream

HOLIDAY SHOPPING.

CHECK IT OUT.

HAVE FUN. SUPPORT THE SITE.

LADIES' JAMS

MULTIPLE STYLES-COLORS

PINDERMEDIA.COM STORE!

PRICES TO SUBJECT TO CHANGE

PLEASE REVIEW E-STORE SITE FOR CURRENT SALES