City watchdog vows Big Tech crackdown over scam adverts June 15, 2021 The City watchdog has pledged to use post-Brexit powers to crack down on tech giants such as Google over online fraud. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned platforms they must do more to block scam adverts following a surge in cases during the pandemic. The regulator added it would not hesitate to take tough [...]
Ecommerce fintech Booste plots London launch after €12m funding round June 15, 2021 Booste, a Polish fintech offering revenue-based financing to ecommerce companies, is planning to launch in London after raising €12m (£10m) in a fresh funding round. The startup, which was co-founded by former Uber Eats executive Jakub Pietraszek, provides ecommerce firms with funding to finance growth through digital ads on Facebook and Google, marketing campaigns and [...]
US Supreme Court gives LinkedIn fresh chance to stop data harvesters June 14, 2021 The US Supreme Court today granted LinkedIn another chance to prevent a rival recruitment data company from scraping personal data from its platform. LinkedIn previously tried to use the the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to prevent rival hiQ from harvesting customer data from their public-facing user profiles. The Act prohibits accessing a computer without [...]
Peak times: Ticket for space trip with Jeff Bezos sells for $28m June 14, 2021 A mystery bidder has splashed out $28m (£20m) for a ticket to travel to space with Amazon boss Jeff Bezos. The sky-high bid was made at a live phone auction on Saturday, concluding a lengthy bidding process for a seat on the maiden voyage of the billionaire’s Blue Origin company. Bids reached $20m within four [...]
Qualcomm ready to swoop on Arm if $40bn Nvidia deal is blocked June 14, 2021 US tech giant Qualcomm has said it is ready to invest in British chipmaker Arm if a planned $40bn (£28bn) takeover by rival Nvidia is blocked by regulators. Nvidia last year agreed the bumper takeover deal for Cambridge-based Arm, but the merger is facing a national security review and competition probes in the UK and [...]
Huawei profit slumps as UK ban hammers sales June 13, 2021 The UK’s decision to blacklist Huawei has hammered sales and profit at the controversial Chinese tech giant, new figures have shown. Accounts for Huawei Technologies, the company’s UK subsidiary, reveal revenue slumped 27.5 per cent to £913.3m in 2020. Pre-tax profit fell from £48m to £36.5m. The government last year banned Huawei from building the [...]
Screenshot: How did a software glitch break the internet? June 11, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Motty goes off the rails **How did a software glitch break the internet? **BT’s bolt from the blue Media Moment of the Week: Motty goes off the rails Look, everyone loves John Motson. He’s a juggernaut of football broadcasting and I don’t have a bad word to say [...]
UK competition regulator secures commitments from Google on third-party cookies June 11, 2021 The UK’s competition watchdog has said it has secured commitments from Google on its proposal to remove third-party cookies from its Chrome browser. Third-party cookies are used by digital advertising companies to personalise and target advertising. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the commitments came after it took action in January over concerns Google’s [...]
UK and US double down on tech collaboration amid China threat June 10, 2021 The UK and the US today agreed to deepen ties in science and tech innovation, as the West looks to stave off growing competition from China. As part of the revised Atlantic Charter agreed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Joe Biden today, the two sides vowed to form a new partnership to create [...]
UK competition watchdog ‘to probe Amazon buy box’ June 10, 2021 The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is planning to formally investigate competition at Amazon, according to reports this morning. The investigation comes amid a similar ongoing one by the EU into Amazon. The UK competition watchdog, which has been analysing the online retailer for months, has focused on how Amazon uses data collected on its [...]