Alphabet Inc's Google upended plans by European media companies to block it from harvesting data about their readers and slash some of its dominance in online advertising, seven people involved in the talks said this month.
"You have to basically implement what expect from you or you're out of the market - you can’t do without them," said Thomas Adhumeau, general counsel at S4M, which competes with Google in software for advertisers.Google repeatedly has outmaneuvered website owners and its competitors over the last decade to ensure its dominance. In several cases, publishers circumvented Google to attract higher prices for ads, only to see Google reassert itself as an indispensable cog.
IAB Chief Executive Townsend Feehan said that pushed by major publishers, the consortium last year agreed to ask users for two separate permissions previously tied together: one to be shown personalized ads, the other to have their personal data collected in a profile. Media groups Axel Springer of Germany and Schibsted of Norway are among those frustrated with Google's stance.