Google is out of business. Can Outbrain get away with content recommendations?

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Google Out

According to a developer blog, after August 25, 2025, web links that use Google link shorteners (such as links that contain goo.gl) will no longer work.

This may not seem like a big deal, but it's part of a growing trend of changes and deprecations that, while individually annoying, can collectively cause major headaches.

We're not talking about abolishing third-party cookies here, and many of these changes are not mandatory.

In addition to removing link shortening services, Google also gave up selling and hosting web domains earlier this year, instead moving publishers who used its services over to Squarespace. According to Krebs on Security, the move didn't go well, leaving publishers vulnerable to hacker attacks.

The company's checkout feature, “Shop with Google,” has also been shut down. If you were a customer, hope you remembered to download your data, because it has been completely wiped since last week.

And let's not forget Universal Analytics, the popular de facto analytics service that basically covers the entire web. This month, Universal Analytics finally forced its customers to move over to the new, widely criticized Google Analytics 4 (GA4) dashboard.

Brainstorming Deals

According to a report from Business Insider, Outbrain is in talks to acquire or merge with Teads, an SSP and video-focused monetization platform.

No, it's true.

Outbrain would have a lot to gain from Teas. Content recommendation companies have come under scrutiny for driving traffic to ad-supported sites, while Outbrain's shares have fallen 76% since its 2021 IPO. The addition of Teas would diversify Outbrain's business beyond its click-based ad revenue model and help Outbrain shake off its Chumbox image.

The question is how Outbrain will finance the deal. Share price decline aside, Outbrain is the smaller of the two companies, with a market capitalization of about $231 million as of March. Outbrain will likely work with an outside backer, perhaps a private equity firm, according to sources.

But Outbrain may need a lot of capital: Tees is owned by telecommunications company Altice, which has billions of dollars of debt, which, as BI's Lara O'Reilly points out, could seriously weigh on Tees' eventual sale price.

New Netflix

Netflix is ​​parting ways with one of its closest advertising industry liaisons, Peter Naylor.

Naylor, a media industry veteran who has held senior advertising roles at NBCUniversal, Hulu and Snap, was named vice president of global ad sales at Netflix in 2022 but is leaving the company in the midst of upfront negotiations.

Naylor is the third senior advertising executive to depart since Netflix first introduced advertising in 2022. But the move feels especially ill-timed, as it's coming just as Netflix is ​​realizing its advertising ambitions and ad sales could become a more meaningful revenue stream.

Media and advertising executives familiar with the matter say Naylor's personal relationships with some of the country's biggest brands may no longer be a good fit for Netflix as the company makes a serious push into programmatic ad tech, Ad Age reports. Netflix is ​​developing its own ad tech, which it will test in Canada before rolling it out more broadly next year. In addition to its partnership with Microsoft, Netflix is ​​also rolling out direct connections with The Trade Desk, Google's DV360 and Magnite this summer.

Meanwhile, longtime Netflix employee Amy Reinhart took over as president of advertising from Jeremy Gorman about seven months ago, to whom Naylor reports. A source familiar with the matter told Ad Age that the new president is trying to refresh the situation and reposition it with her own vision in mind, as happens often.

But wait, there's more!

Oracle has agreed to pay $115 million to settle a consumer privacy lawsuit that accused the company of collecting personal information through its ID Graph product and other products and selling it to third parties. [Reuters] (No wonder the company quickly exited its advertising business last month, which is reportedly expected to bring in just $300 million in revenue in 2023.)

Survey shows majority of US viewers plan to follow the Olympics on social media rather than on TV. [Business Insider]

The amount of content available to train and build generative AI models has declined significantly, and LLMs are feeling the loss. [NYT]

The Toronto Star launches micropayments. [Toolkits]

You're Hired!

Pixability has hired Matt Nash as SVP of EMEA operations. [release]

Azerion has promoted Roxanne Harley to head of UK growth. [release]

Whalar Group has appointed Emma Harman as president, EMEA to lead growth in the region. [blog]

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