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Alphabet’s Google has been hit by an EU antitrust complaint over its AI Overviews from a group of independent publishers, which has also asked for an interim measure to prevent allegedly irreparable harm to them, according to a document seen by Reuters. Google’s AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that appear above traditional hyperlinks to relevant webpages and are shown to users in more than 100 countries. It began adding advertisements to AI Overviews last May. The company is making its biggest bet by integrating AI into search but the move has sparked concerns from some content providers such as publishers. The Independent Publishers Alliance document, dated June 30, sets out a complaint to the European Commission and alleges that Google abuses its market power in online search. “Google’s core search engine service is misusing web content for Google’s AI Overviews in Google Search, which have caused, and continue to cause, significant harm to publishers, including news publishers in the form of traffic, readership and revenue loss,” the document said. It said Google positions its AI Overviews at the top of its general search engine results page to display its own summaries which are generated using publisher material and it alleges that Google’s positioning disadvantages publishers’ original content. “Publishers using Google Search do not have the option to opt out from their material being ingested for Google’s AI large language model training and/or from being crawled for summaries, without losing their ability to appear in Google’s general search results page,” the complaint said. The Commission declined to comment. The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority confirmed receipt of the complaint. Google said it sends billions of clicks to websites each day. “New AI experiences in Search enable people to ask even more questions, which creates new opportunities for content and businesses to be discovered,” a Google spokesperson said. The Independent Publishers Alliance’s website says it is a nonprofit community advocating for independent publishers, which it does not name. The Movement for an Open Web, whose members include digital advertisers and publishers, and British nonprofit Foxglove Legal Community Interest Company, which says it advocates for fairness in the tech world, are also signatories to the complaint. They said an interim measure was necessary to prevent serious irreparable harm to competition and to ensure access to news. Google said numerous claims about traffic from search are often based on highly incomplete and skewed data. “The reality is that sites can gain and lose traffic for a variety of reasons, including seasonal demand, interests of users, and regular algorithmic updates to Search,” the Google spokesperson said. Foxglove co-executive director Rosa Curling said journalists and publishers face a dire situation. “Independent news faces an existential threat: Google’s AI Overviews,” she told Reuters. “That’s why with this complaint, Foxglove and our partners are urging the European Commission, along with other regulators around the world, to take a stand and allow independent journalism to opt out,” Curling said. The three groups have filed a similar complaint and a request for an interim measure to the U.K. competition authority. The complaints echoed a U.S. lawsuit by a U.S. edtech company which said Google’s AI Overviews is eroding demand for original content and undermining publishers’ ability to compete that have resulted in a drop in visitors and subscribers. Foo Yun Chee, Reuters
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E-Commerce
In the early-morning hours of July 4, while most people were still in their beds ahead of the Independence Day celebrations, residents of Kerr County, Texas, began fleeing for their lives. The county is located approximately 60 miles northwest of San Antonio and 90 miles west of Austin. At around 4 a.m. local time, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued an urgent warning of a flood watch that posed a severe threat to human life. Less than 90 minutes later, the Associated Press reports, parts of Kerrville City were seeing alarmingly high water levels. Soon the onslaught of rain sent waters rushing into the Guadalupe River, which flows through Kerr County and others, causing it to rise by 26 feet in under an hour, damaging homes and vehicles and leading to a staggering loss of life. Texas flooding death toll climbs The Kerr County, Texas, floods are among the worst that this area has experienced in nearly a century. And Kerr isn’t the only county affected. As of the time of this writing, at least 82 people from six counties, including Kerr, Travis, Kendall, Burnet, Williamson, and Tom Green, are confirmed to have died in the flooding, with many still missing. CNN reports that at least 28 children are among those who have died, including some who were attending the Camp Mystic summer camp near the Guadalupe River. Search and recovery efforts are still underway. How to help the Texas flood victims It will likely be days before the final death toll is known and many months or longer until the affected areas are cleaned and rebuilt. Until then, there are several ways to help the victims of the Texas flooding, including: The Kerr County Flood Relief Fund: This fund was set up by the Texas Hill Country Community Foundation to help the victims of the July 4 floods. Monies donated to the fund will be distributed to organizations that provide flood assistance, rescue efforts, and relief efforts. The communities supported through this fund include Hunt, Ingram, Kerrville, Center Point, and Comfort. You can make a donation here. The American Red Cross of Central & South Texas: The American Red Cross is accepting donations. The Central & South Texas branch focuses on relief efforts in the area, including providing food as well as financial and travel assistance for those affected. You can donate to the American Red Cross here. The Salvation Army: The Salvation Army is providing myriad types of relief efforts in the areas affected by the flooding, including emergency aid, food and drinks, and other critical supplies. You can donate to The Salvation Army here. GoFundMe verified fundraisers: GoFundMe has set up a landing page featuring fundraisers that have been verified by the platforms Trust & Safety experts. A list of verified fundraisers for the July Texas floods can be found here. Kerrville Pets Alive: People arent the only ones affected by the flooding; animals have been, too. Kerrville Pets Alive is accepting donations that will help buy supplies for homeless pets in the area. You can make a donation here.
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E-Commerce
Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! Im Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. In the fall of 2019, as editor of Fast Company, I commissioned a package of stories on innovators working to reinvent and bolster capitalism to make it more equitable and environmentally sustainablethe theory being that a system that works for everyone is good for business and society. The print magazine featured a close-up photograph of Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard with the provocative headline: Capitalism is dead. Long live capitalism. Six years later, those stories feel almost quaint, and Fast Company has published something of a rejoinder. Its summer cover story, How business for good went badand what comes next, explores the fall and future of so-called stakeholder capitalism, which posits that CEOs should lead their companies to serve not just shareholders but also employees, customers, suppliers, local communities, and the environment. (The story is behind Fast Companys paywall. Modern CEO readers who arent yet subscribers can access a one-day premium pass here.) Enlightened self-interest’s ROI In the piece, writer James Surowiecki highlights the shifting economic and political winds that have swiftly eroded diversity, environmental, and other societal initiatives. He writes: This reversal has been so fast and so dramatic that even many of the youngest mission-driven companies now look like relics of a bygone era, while the environment that spawned them feels like little more than a dream. Stakeholder capitalism isnt exactly dead, though. Proponents argue that business for good needs to be underpinned by benefits to the business such as cost savings or customer acquisition. “Most corporations are adopting ethical sourcing not because of values but because of enlightened self-interest, says Paul Rice, founder and former CEO of Fair Trade USA, and author of Every Purchase Matters: How Fair Trade Farmers, Companies, and Consumers Are Changing the World. They see an opportunity either to de-risk their supply chains or tap into the growing conscious-consumer segment that is looking for sustainable products.” Jonquil Hackenberg, CEO of Ellen MacArthur Foundation, similarly has argued that material security is one reason why companies should embrace the circular economy, which encourages companies and individuals to recycle, refurbish, and reuse materials. This pragmatic approach isnt a bad thing. Rice, who says he was disappointed with the Fast Company piece, argues that a new generation of businesses doesnt see a trade-off between profits and purposethey see ethical supply chains and sustainability as strategic advantages. It is also worth noting that self-interest never goes out of style. A hyperefficient supply chain that just happens to reduce emissions is sure to withstand investor scrutiny, corporate leadership changes, and even political antagonists. How is your business adhering to conscious capitalism? Is your business committed to conscious capitalism, and if so, how are you positioning your approach to shareholders? Send your ideas to me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com, and well highlight examples in a future newsletter. Read more: stakeholder capitalism The business case for diversity isnt working Why Patagonia was Inc.s 2022 Company of the Year Stakeholder capitalism is entering a new era
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E-Commerce
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