CMA Reassess Meta-Giphy Decision; Apple Sued Over Apple Pay

by Grace Dillon on 19th Jul 2022 in News

In today's ExchangeWire news digest: the CMA review their decision to block Meta's acquisition of Giphy; Apple face a lawsuit accusing them of abusing their dominance in the digital payments market; and more advertisers bring agency work in-house.

CMA to reconsider Meta-Giphy decision

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have announced that they will review Meta’s acquisition of gif generator Giphy again. The move follows the regulator’s original decision to unravel the deal being rejected by a tribunal.

The Facebook-owner was ordered to sell Giphy, which they had reportedly bought for USD $400m (~£332.7m), by the CMA, who expressed fears that the deal would negatively affect competition within social media and online advertising. However, the ruling was nullified by the Competitions Appeals Tribunal (CAT), who asserted that the CMA had “failed to properly consult” on the matter.

The CMA responded by stating that their approach to reviewing potentially anticompetitive mergers was approved by the CAT, but agreed to review their decision on the Giphy case.

Apple sued over Apple Pay

Apple are facing legal action once again, with a proposed class action accusing the tech giant of stifling competition within the digital payments ecosystem.

The suit, which was filed in San Francisco federal court yesterday (18th July), alleges that Apple “coerces” people who use their hardware into also using their Apple Pay mobile wallet, rather than giving them the chance to try a competing service.

Affinity Credit Union, who filed the complaint, said that the practice incurs at least USD$1bn (~£831.8m) in excess annual fees for the over 4,000 banks and credit unions who are forced to use Apple Pay. The Iowa-based organisation also asserted that Apple’s unchallenged dominance within the space discourages the iPhone maker from improving the service’s security and UX.

This isn’t the first time that Apple has faced scrutiny over Apple Pay – the company may be slapped with a hefty fine from the European Union after regulators accused them of refusing to share their technology with competitors.

In-housing grows amongst advertisers amidst dissatisfaction with agencies

Some advertisers are growing their in-house capabilities. A study by the World Federation of Advertisers and The Observatory, which surveyed 32 advertisers across nine sectors, found that the number who have established some form of their own in-house agency has grown to 80%, up from 57% two years ago.

60% of advertisers have sought to reduce the number of agencies they work with amidst lower levels of satisfaction, with just 25% stating that they were ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ satisfied with their current partnerships.

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