Lookzy: all your daily legal news in 0.1 billable hours. Litigation, deals, lateral moves and industry news; we cover it all.

Welcome to Lookzy. In today's Lookzy:

• The details on the DOJ's assault on Google

• Greenberg Traurig must do more before it is allowed to drop Kanye

• Rupert Murdoch's empire-merging plans are canceled

• One more law firm merger puts another firm on the map

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DOJ v. GOOGLE

The US Department of Justice and eight states filed a suit in Virginia federal court against Alphabet Inc.'s Google, seeking to force Google to spin out part of its ad-tech business over alleged illegal monopolization of the digital advertising market.

In 2007, Google acquired ad-tech firm DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. DoubleClick ultimately transformed into Google Ad Manager, the "network" ad business selling ads on others' inventory, which the DOJ now wants Google to spin out. "Network" ad sales account for approximately 12% of Alphabet's total revenue.

Google's ad business is certainly dominant. In 2021, Google made $209 billion in ad revenue, nearly double the next largest ad company, Meta, which made $115 billion in ad revenue. 81% of Google's revenue comes from ad sales.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's antitrust co-chair Eric Mahr will be leading Google's defense in this fight, having previously represented Google and served as a director of litigation in the DOJ's antitrust division.

Google was previously sued over its ad technology by 15 states and territories, but that suit faced a mixed reception in court.

ECON SNAPSHOT

The difference between special bonuses and layoffs

THE VERDICT

Arguing today's litigation news

Kanye needs more. A Manhattan federal judge rejected Greenberg Traurig's plan to notify Kanye via newspaper ads that the firm was withdrawing from representing him in an ongoing copyright case after failing to serve him. The judge instructed that Greenberg must work harder to actually notify Kanye.

More antitrust. DC's attorney general asked an appeals court to revive a claim against Amazon that it is violating antitrust law through its agreements with merchants prohibiting them from offering lower prices elsewhere, a claim Amazon is already facing in a Seattle federal court.

Block squared. A US appeals court allowed Block, formerly known as Square, to use its name in connection with its tax-preparation app, reversing a trial court's decision in a trademark dispute with H&R Block. The court ruled that H&R Block failed to show a likelihood of confusion between the marks.

Tough cookie. Hershey Co settled a lawsuit brought by a cookie company called The Cookie Department Inc. over Hershey's alleged misuse of the company's "Tough Cookie" mark on protein bars. The settlement follows years of litigation between the desserts-makers, with The Cookie Department filing its initial lawsuit in 2020 followed by separate threats, an additional complaint and allegations of misconduct in front of the US PTO.

Taylor v. Ticketmaster. US senators at a hearing took an opportunity to try to show off how hip they are when they chastised Live Nation Entertainment, the Ticketmaster parent, over its lack of transparency and inability to block bot purchases of tickets, in addition to greater antitrust concerns. Ticketmaster reportedly controls more than 70% market share of primary ticket services for major US concert venues.

THE DEAL

Wheelin' and dealin' today's corporate news

Canceled merger. Rupert Murdoch sent a letter to the boards of Fox Corp. and News Corp. announcing that he was withdrawing his proposal to explore combining the two companies in an attempt to reunite his publishing and entertainment empire. Murdoch noted that the proposed deal was "not optimal" for shareholders.

Digital real estate. Real estate company CoStar Group is reportedly in discussions to acquire real estate media company Move Inc., the owner of sites including Realtor.com, from News Corp. for approximately $3 billion.

VC sale. Venture capital firm Thrive Capital agreed to sell a 3.3% stake for approximately $175 million to a group of high profile individuals including Disney CEO Robert Iger, KKR founder Henry Kravis and others. The share sale values Thrive at $5.3 billion.

Black gold. Energy company Matador Resources Company agreed to acquire oil and gas management company Advance Energy Partners for an initial cash payment of $1.6 billion. Additional cash of $7.5 million is contemplated for each month in which the price of oil is above $85/barrel. Baker Botts is representing Matador and Vinson & Elkins is representing Advance.

Spoiled SPACs. A report by the WSJ identified that a number of crypto companies including Circle Internet Financial, Bullish Global, Galaxy Digital and eToro had plans to go public this year via SPAC merger, but in each case SEC scrutiny caused deals to fall through.

BUSINESS OF THE FIRM

Lateral Moves:

• Reed Smith's managing partner Alexander Y. “Sandy” Thomas will step down to become the Chief Legal Officer of Kids in Need of Defense, an international nonprofit.

• Jones Day named partner Sion Richards as its new leader of its global disputes practice following its recent leadership shuffle.

Industry News:

• Southeast-based Smith, Gambrell & Russell and Chicago-based Freeborn & Peters agreed to merge, forming a new 400-attorney firm with 14 offices and $260 million in revenue.

BOILERPLATE

Alright, back to billing. That's all, folks!