News in brief: Disney reports bullish numbers for streaming and advertising efforts; Zeta Global under scrutiny; Google to halt political ads within the EU.

Disney reports bullish results for streaming and advertising efforts

Disney has reported positive numbers for its Disney+ streaming division in its latest earnings, citing an increase of 4.4 million users in its subscriber base, climbing to 122.7 million. In the earnings call associated with the report, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that approximately 60% of these new subscribers (~2.64 million) are users who have signed up to its ad-supported tier. This in turn has driven impressive profitability for the streaming arm of the house of mouse, which now boasts an operating income of USD$321m (£253m), compared to a loss of USD$387m (£305m) in the equivalent period last year. Per Iger, “We know the ARPU, and interest in it from advertisers in streaming has grown.”

Zeta Global under scrutiny

Activist investment research firm Culper Research has released a report into marketing technology firm Zeta Global, alleging that the firm is artificially inflating its financials and purported data assets by acting as “both a supplier and buyer” of consumer data and setting up an extensive network of “consent farms”. Legal firm Block & Leviton has subsequently launched a securities fraud investigation into Zeta following an initial share price decline of 8.5%.

A statement posted by Zeta Global in opposition to the claims made by Culper Research reads, “Based upon Zeta’s and its legal counsel’s preliminary review and evaluation of the report, the Company believes this report is riddled with misrepresentations, speculative conjecture, and categorically false statements. The report is misleading and conveys, at most, a superficial understanding of Zeta’s business and practices”

Google to halt political ads within the EU

Google has announced that it will stop serving political advertisements across its ecosystem, including YouTube, within the European Union. According to a blog post released by Google, political ads will be blocked from its platforms prior to October 2025, in response to the upcoming release of the EU’s Regulation on Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA). The regulation mandates that digital political ads are clearly labeled with details such as whether the ad is targeted and how much the advertiser paid for the ad, as well as requiring users explicitly opt-in to be served political ads.