Google Breakup Imminent; Sign Up For Bedrock Platform Webinar/Live Q&A; DoubleVerify Outlines Why It's Invested In FirstPartyCapital
It’s a short week for us all, as the continent of Europe closes down for Easter break. It’s all about death and rebirth this weekend. FPC would not dream of drawing parallels to ad tech in this usual warbling opener. It would be a different level of glibness and unspeakably naffness to compare the most significant religious event for a billion-plus people to say the rise of agentic AI in advertising.
There is a line, readers. But FPC will freely admit that this week’s newsletter is being soundtracked by the seminal “I Am the Resurrection” by the Stone Roses - a fitting piece of Baggy-esque genius to run over what’s happening in the FPC-sphere. So, analogies are possible. Right, on with this week’s truncated edition.
Google Breakup To Unleash Untold Ad Tech Economic Value
This was supposed to be a two-story newsletter this week. But Judge Leonie Brinkema decided to issue a ruling in US v. Google. The verdict: Google is a MONOPOLIST in ad tech - finding the company guilty of operating a monopoly in two online advertising markets.
Some in the industry have been vociferously calling for a Google breakup for almost a decade and half - despite the “Google bashing” criticism from peers. It seems we are getting closer to that breakup scenario.
Judge Brinkema will issue remedies in the coming weeks. What’s most likely is a forced divestiture of certain assets - most likely its publisher ad tech stack (GAM, AdX and AdSense).
While YouTube has not been mentioned, FPC has a sneaky suspicion that the DOJ will force Google to open up YT to 3rd party platforms beyond DV360.
Will Google spin out the pub ad tech stack? FPC does not think so. Google will instead sunset GAM, Adx and AdSense.
That might seem like crazy talk. But the pub stack is basically a shell without the firehose of Google search demand.
Does anyone think the DOJ will allow Google to point demand at NewSpunCo to justify the lofty market valuation that’s being banded around in banker circles? Not this vindictive White House.
The internal math at Google about how things might play out would be a joy to see.
Whatever happens next to Google, the economic value unleashed in independent ad tech will be significant. The publisher ad server will get a new lease of life. Sell-side companies will see a boost, as publishers scramble to plug the Google gap. We will see huge innovation.
Google will want to move on - and they doubtless have a plan. So something significant is about to happen. And, as ever, FPC is well placed to capitalise.
Given this huge story dropped on the eve of Easter weekend, FPC will go deeper on the consequences of a Google breakup in a future edition.
Sign Up For The Live Bedrock Platform Q&A
As you know, we are running a syndicate raise for Bedrock Platform, the buy-side infrastructure vendor building for this new era of ad tech.
We outline the seven reasons you should invest in a previous edition.
One key factor for FPC is the stellar team behind Bedrock Platform. Just look at the pedigree of the founders:
Shane Shevlin (CEO) held roles at DoubleClick, Google and was the chief commercial brain at IPONWEB for over a decade.
Austin Scott (CCO) has worked at Microsoft, Xandr, FreeWheel and StickyAds (where she was pivotal in getting them sold to FreeWheel).
Ryan Pestano (CPO) has held senior roles at Brandscreen, Amobee and most recently at IPONWEB (here he helped productise some of the most essential infrastructure in ad tech).
Some of the best minds in ad tech are also advising the company: Erich Wasserman (co-founder at MediaMath), Scott Neville (led strategy at IPONWEB), Nicole Pruess (former Admeld/Google alumna and ad tech product guru), and Brian Fitzpatrick (respected industry advisor).
And just to add some spice and credence to support the argument above, Ryan and Shane outline a compelling case for being the originators of curation (see below). The talent is outrageously strong in this stellar ad tech team.
That curation origin claim in full: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7318225747410636801/.
There is huge interest in this £400K GBP (SEIS/EIS) round, and we expect to close it quickly.
To give investors a better overview of the Bedrock Platform opportunity, FPC will host a live Q&A with the team via Zoom next week. Click on the link below to sign up.
DoubleVerify Outlines Why It Is Investing In FirstPartyCapital
We had DoubleVerify CEO, Mark Zagorski, on the podcast this week.. As you know by now, DoubleVerify made a considerable investment in FPC Fund 1.
The question you are asking yourself is why? Mark kindly gave up his time this week to go through the DV thinking on the investment and the wider ad tech M&A market.
Here is a summary of the DV rationale:
It gives them visibility on the most innovative startups in ad tech. It’s difficult for any company to keep track of all innovation and emerging trends in the space. FPC helps them fill that gap.
FPC gives DV a global view. We are the only early stage ad tech investment firm outside the US. Believe it or not, there is a lot going on outside the US.
FPC gives corporate investors like DV early opportunity to partner with great companies building for the future of ad tech.
Corporates like DV are not going to build every feature in ad tech. Access the best-in-breed startups (via FPC, of course) to augment your own offering.
That could lead to strong commercial partnerships and possibly M&A. Another critical reason to invest.
We have started raising money for Fund 2. The target is £50 million to build an ad tech legacy in this part of the world. We will have more on that in the coming weeks.
If the above resonates with your own corp dev strategy, then get in touch.
What a way to end the week. See you on the other side.