Walmart's plan to dominate advertising

Hello! Welcome to Insider Advertising for January 29. I'm senior advertising reporter Lauren Johnson, and here's what's going on:

• Walmart's ad domination plan.
• Mark Zuckerberg slams Apple.
• Brands want Olympics refund.
  

If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here for your daily insider's guide to advertising and media.

Tips, comments, suggestions? Drop me a line at LJohnson@businessinsider.com or on Twitter at @LaurenJohnson.

Walmart is ramping up its pitch to advertisers as it seeks to be one of the top 10 ad sellers

• I reported that Walmart revealed plans to ramp up its advertising business and compete with ad giants like Amazon and Google.
• The retailer is rebranding its advertising business to Walmart Connect.
• It also plans to roll out its own adtech and ads on in-store screens this year.

Read the full story here.

Mark Zuckerberg said Apple is becoming Facebook's biggest competitor. He also accused Apple of misleading users on privacy and abusing its dominance.

• Mark Zuckerberg said Apple is becoming one of Facebook's "biggest competitors" in an earnings call.
• Zuckerberg also said Apple misleads users about its commitment to privacy, because it doesn't end-to-end encrypt iMessage.
• He also accused Apple of squashing competition under the guise of privacy protection.

Read the full story here.

Advertisers are seeking money-back deals if the Tokyo Olympics are canceled

• Claire Atkinson reports that advertisers are making contingency plans in case the Tokyo Olympics get canned.
• Brands are asking for greater flexibility, including getting their cash back versus rolling into other programming.
• At risk is a huge Olympics ad business for NBCUniversal, which totaled some $1.25 billion in 2020.

Read the full story here.

More stories we're reading:

• Cox Communications moved its $150 million advertising business to Dentsu in a big blow to rival Publicis (Business Insider)
• The 8-newsletter bundle Every has raised investment and left Substack, becoming the latest media startup to exit the buzzy platform (Business Insider)
• Facebook just hired a top lawyer from ViacomCBS as the social-media giant's first chief compliance officer (Business Insider)
• YouTube is quietly boosting short videos as it preps its TikTok rival for US release - and some creators are seeing big audience growth (Business Insider)
• Robinhood blocks purchases of GameStop, AMC, and others after days of Reddit-fueled rallies (Business Insider)
• Publicis Groupe's Epsilon to pay $150 million to resolve customer-data case (Wall Street Journal)
• ESPN looks to sell X Games as it deals with streaming pressure (The Information)

Thanks for reading and see you on Monday! You can reach me in the meantime at LJohnson@businessinsider.com and subscribe to this daily email here.