Sridhar Ramaswamy, the VP of ads and commerce at Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has been named as an additional speaker at the Disrupt event to be held in New York.
Officials from AdBlock Plus and the Interactive Advertising Bureau stated that they had already selected the speakers for the event but Mr. Ramaswamy would be joining them as well. The ads vice president’s mention as a speaker hints that Ads will also be a subject of discussion during the event. In an effort to keep up with the fast paced growth of the mobile market Google has been shifting a lot of their ad focus to handheld devices. The firm reported strong earnings in February, and this caused Alphabet’s stock to shoot up, making it the most valuable firm in the world.
The shifting attention to mobile advertising is a positive gamble for the firm because it has been yielding attractive returns. However, more players are getting onboard the mobile platform advertising and the competition is therefore growing. Ramaswamy is thus also expected to talk about the company’s strategy to counter the competition. Disrupt will be held from May 9 to May 11.
Google is also facing some issues concerning its dominance in the ad business. The European Union is currently probing into whether the firm has been abusing its dominant position in the ads market through its Android OS. Margrethe Vestager, the commissioner of the regulatory body, stated that Google might face formal charges if it is found guilty of the offenses. Vestager had previously filed different charges against the company last year over claims that it was favoring its shopping service. She also launched an investigation on how the company had been conducting the Android platform.
Vestager also stated that the company’s behavior in other areas would also be closely watched. The probe would be paying special attention to the firm to determine whether the firm prevents website operators from posting ads on their websites. The commissioner stated that she plans to close the many competition cases brought up against the company.
