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Welcome back to The Brief by Kuro House, your daily dose of marketing intelligence to keep you sharp and ahead of the curve. I’m glad you’re tuning in—today, we’ve got a packed lineup spanning legal battles in ad tech, bold new moves in video content, and the ever-shifting sands of TV consumption. Let’s dig into the stories making waves in the last 24 hours.

First up, a major legal salvo in the ongoing battle between publishers and Google. According to Adweek, Business Insider has filed an 89-page federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York, accusing Google of unlawfully monopolizing digital advertising markets. The heart of the complaint is Google’s alleged tying of its DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) ad server to its AdX ad exchange. Business Insider claims this linkage stifled competition and unfairly suppressed publisher revenues—including their own. But it doesn’t stop there. The lawsuit details several specific practices: “Last Look,” which allegedly let AdX see competitors’ bids before placing its own; “dynamic allocation,” which enables non-guaranteed demand to compete with guaranteed campaigns for impressions; and a “minimum bid to win” scheme in Unified Auctions, allowing Google to see the lowest price at which a winner could have secured an impression. Business Insider is joining a growing roster of publishers taking Google to court, and this case could have significant implications for the transparency and fairness of programmatic advertising.

Shifting gears to the world of video, The Sun is making headlines with a bold bet on original programming. Jessica Davies at Digiday reports that over the past nine months, The Sun has nearly doubled video’s share of its digital revenue—from 9% in January to 18% today. This surge is largely thanks to their Originals slate: 15 long-form shows launched since January, with seven more on the way. These aren’t just vanity projects; they’ve racked up over 113 million views across platforms, and attracted new digital sponsors like M&S and Card Factory. Originals now account for 5% of that 18% video revenue. The Sun is focusing on sports and its “Fabulous” women’s lifestyle brand, building modular formats that can integrate brands seamlessly. For example, the weekly video podcast “No Parental Guidance,” hosted by mom influencers Louise Boyce and Hannah East, has drawn 7 million viewers and is sponsored by Card Factory. The Sun’s approach is to separate hard news from sponsor-friendly content, ensuring brand safety and commercial viability. They’re also leveraging their massive YouTube presence—6 million subscribers, the largest of any UK newspaper—and are planning more channel launches focused on specific sports and family content. With 40% of Originals views coming via connected TVs, and UK online display spend shifting heavily to video, The Sun’s strategy is a fascinating case study in how publishers can adapt as search referral traffic declines, especially with the rise of Google’s AI Overviews.

Let’s turn now to the latest TV consumption trends, courtesy of Nielsen’s The Gauge Ratings for August 2025, as reported by Adweek. After six months of steady growth, streaming saw a rare month-to-month decline in August, dropping 0.9% to account for 46.4% of total TV usage. Why? The lack of live sports—like college football—may have played a role. Meanwhile, broadcast and cable both saw gains, with broadcast jumping 0.7% to 19.1% and cable up 0.3% to 22.5%. The gap between streaming and traditional linear TV shrank from 6.7% in July to 4.8% in August. YouTube remains the dominant streaming service at 13.1% of all viewing, though that’s down 0.3% from July. Netflix is next at 8.7%, down slightly as well. Disney’s streaming group—Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu—collectively holds 4.6%. Notably, Amazon’s Prime Video was the only major streamer to gain share, up 0.1% to 3.9%. The Roku Channel and Tubi held steady, while Paramount+ and PlutoTV remained flat at 2%. Peacock and Warner Bros. Discovery’s services both declined to 1.4%. The “Other” streaming category also dipped, ending at 6.4%. The data covers five weeks, from late July through August, and underscores that while streaming is still king, linear TV isn’t out of the fight just yet, especially when live content is in play.

In the world of advertising critique, Adweek is launching something new for the industry’s creative minds and curious marketers alike. Introducing “Ad Critic,” a weekly franchise where top practitioners break down the most talked-about campaigns of the month. The idea is to demystify advertising—why do certain campaigns work, what are they really selling, and how do they try to influence behavior? Each review will be posted weekly, led off by Susan Credle, global creative advisor at Interpublic and former global CCO of FCB. Ads will be rated on the “ADWEEK Olive Scale”—the more olives in your martini, the better the ad. If you’ve got a campaign you want dissected, you can even submit it to their Creativity Editor, Brittaney Kiefer. This promises to be a must-follow for anyone who wants to see the industry through the eyes of its top creative minds.

Finally, a story at the intersection of media, politics, and advertising: ABC’s decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air after Kimmel’s comments on the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. As reported by Adweek, this move has become a flashpoint in the ongoing U.S. culture wars. While late-night legends like Stephen Colbert and David Letterman have rallied to Kimmel’s defense—and President Trump has celebrated the show’s removal—advertisers are notably silent. Adweek reached out to seven major brands that regularly advertise on Kimmel’s show, but none responded. The silence speaks volumes about the climate of caution and fear that currently grips marketers, especially when FCC oversight and the threat of controversy loom large. For now, brands seem to be sitting this one out, carefully weighing their next steps in a polarized media landscape.

That’s all for today’s edition of The Brief. From legal battles over ad tech power, to publishers reinventing themselves through video, to the shifting tides of TV and the scrutiny of ad creativity, it’s clear that the marketing world never stands still. Thanks for joining us—stay curious, stay sharp, and we’ll see you tomorrow for more insights to keep you ahead of the game.