Google's Ad Tech Rules Scrutinized as OOH Advertising Booms and John Lewis Turns to YouTube

A US judge has recommended that Google relax its rules governing online advertising auctions and appoint an internal antitrust compliance monitor. Judge Leonie Brinkema made this assessment after rejecting the DOJ's proposal to break up Google's ad tech business, citing the need for 'much-needed' competition.

The ruling comes as out-of-home (OOH) advertising continues to show strong growth, with revenue increasing by 12.7% in Q2 compared to the same period last year. Digital OOH revenue grew by 14.6%, while traditional OOH saw an increase of 8.8%. The sector has seen two consecutive quarters of growth, with H1 revenues up 13.7% from the previous year.

In a bid to improve its visibility in AI search results, John Lewis is launching a YouTube chatshow and social media studio. The company's outgoing boss, Peter Ruis, revealed that customers are increasingly relying on LLMs (Large Language Models) to find products, with usage rising from 0.3% to 2.5% since last year.