Author Ken Auletta on Advertising's Near-Death Experience
*By Conor White*
Digital technologies have transformed media, and the disruption of the advertising business will fundamentally alter the way Americans listen, read, and watch media in the future, according to the writer and media critic Ken Auletta.
"I was writing about the media for years, both in books and The New Yorker," Auletta said. "But if you follow the money, as is the old Watergate adage, advertising is supplying all the money."
In his new book, "Frenemies: The Epic Disruption Of The Ad Business (And Everything Else)," Auletta details how that money is drying up, and with it, the futures of advertising and ad-supported businesses like magazines and newspapers.
Some of the culprits were easy to identify: programmatic ads courtesy of Google and Facebook.
In an interview Wednesday with Cheddar's CEO Jon Steinberg, Auletta said the tech companies' efforts to collect all the available data on their users is the foundation of their business and the reason their efforts have raised alarm, including the European Union's new General Data Protection Rule.
"They've been selling the argument for many years, which I follow in the book, the more we know about you, the more we can target ads at you and give you ads that don't feel interruptive, but feel like a service," Auletta said.
But it's a trade off.
"As targeting goes up, privacy protection goes down," he added. "As privacy protection goes up, targeting goes down."
Though programmatic ads have severely wounded the traditional advertising business, Auletta said advertising isn't dead, and the industries that rely on ad dollars to survive ー including social media ー will have to adapt as the ad market shifts.
"If advertising dies, newspapers die, magazines die, much of television dies," Auletta warned. "Google and Facebook, which are almost totally dependent, die."
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/keep-your-frenemies-close).
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
Hear from Gabino & Stephen Roche on Saphyre’s institutional AI platform that centralizes pre‑ and post‑trade data, redefining settlement speed and accuracy.
