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The European Commission and UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have launched an antitrust investigation into the advertising deal between Google and Meta (formerly Facebook) codenamed "Jedi Blue." In particular, the organizations are looking into whether the tech giants colluded to hinder competition "in markets for online display advertising." The US Justice Department, backed by several states, is also investigating the deal between the two companies.

As the commission explains, Google provides an ad technology service that auctions off online display advertising space on websites and apps as part of its Open Bidding program. Meanwhile, Meta's Audience Network participates in those kinds of auctions for ad spaces facilitated by Google and rival services. CMA Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli said the organization is "concerned that Google may have teamed up with Meta to put obstacles in the way of competitors who provide important online display advertising services to publishers."

Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, told The Financial Times that the commission suspects there may have been an agreement between the companies to "only to use Google services and not competing services." Vestager also told the publication, however, that the commission is investigating the possibility that Meta was unaware of the agreement's repercussions and that Google acted alone. "We have not concluded yet if it's a Google thing alone or if they were in it together. It's not a given that Meta was conscious of the effects of the deal and that's what we have to investigate," the commissioner said.

In addition to opening a probe into the Jedi Blue deal, the CMA is also scrutinizing Google's conduct as a whole in relation to ad bidding. The watchdog is investigating whether the tech giant abused its dominant position to gain an advantage over competitors offering bidding services. 

Google previously denied that it colluded with Meta in a court filing, and a spokesperson echoed that in a statement sent to Engadget:

"The allegations made about this agreement are false. This is a publicly documented, procompetitive agreement that enables Facebook Audience Network (FAN) to participate in our Open Bidding program, along with dozens of other companies. FAN's involvement is not exclusive and they don't receive advantages that help them win auctions. The goal of this program is to work with a range of ad networks and exchanges to increase demand for publishers’ ad space, which helps those publishers earn more revenue. Facebook’s participation helps that. We're happy to answer any questions the Commission or the CMA have."

A Meta spokesperson also told us that the deal with Google is non-exclusive: 

"Meta's non-exclusive bidding agreement with Google and the similar agreements we have with other bidding platforms, have helped to increase competition for ad placements. These business relationships enable Meta to deliver more value to advertisers and publishers, resulting in better outcomes for all. We will cooperate with both inquiries."

If the CMA finds that the companies had violated competition law, they could be slapped with fines equivalent to 10 percent of their global revenues. As The Financial Times notes, though, the process could take years to complete.

Users in Russia won't be able to buy apps and games or pay for subscriptions and in-app purchases at the moment. Google has suspended the Play store billing system as of March 10th due to "payment system disruption," most likely caused by sanctions imposed against the country's banks. The tech giant has announced the suspension in a support page, where it also said that Russian users can still download free apps and games.

Ongoing subscriptions won't be cut off right away, but they can't be renewed after they're done. Google advised developers in Russia to make their apps free and to switch off subscription services for now if they want to continue making them available for download. 

According to Reuters, YouTube is also pausing all paid services for viewers in Russia, including YouTube Premium, Channel Memberships, Super Chat and merchandise sales. Creators in the country can still generate revenue from viewers outside the country, who'll still be able to send them Super Chats and buy their merch. 

In addition, Google is pausing ads for all advertisers based in Russia across all its properties around the world, expanding the other ad-related bans it implemented since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. YouTube previously barred Russia Today (RT) and other state-owned media channels from being able to generate revenue. It also blocked access to them across Europe following the EU's orders to ban their broadcast. Google blocked Russian state media from being able to monetize their content across its products, as well, and eventually stopped selling ads in Russia.

Frontier Developments has cancelled further development of Elite Dangerous on Xbox and PlayStation and will no longer release a console version of its Odyssey expansion. "We have been wrestling with the best way to move forward, and it is with a heavy heart we have decided to cancel all console development," said Frontier chief David Braben.  

The $40 Odyssey expansion finally gave players the opportunity to explore planets on foot and visit space stations, settlements and more — rather than just hanging out on spaceships and landing vehicles. However, the launch on PC was a disaster with performance, server and other issues, and the company has been struggling to fix them ever since. So far the expansion has received 10 major updates, but there's apparently still work to be done, according to Braben. 

"It's no secret that Odyssey's launch was less than ideal, including the need to split the PC/console player base to focus on a PC-only launch," Braben wrote. "Since Odyssey's release in May 2021, we have worked tirelessly to improve the Odyssey experience on PC, and whilst we have made great progress there is still more to be done."

It was expected that the company would focus on releasing Odyssey on console once it licked the PC bugs. Now, however, Frontier is not only cancelling Odyssey but any future Elite Dangerous updates on Xbox or PlayStation. Instead, it will focus development on PC, which has the largest share of players by far.

"We need to be able to move forward with the story of the game, and in order for us to do this we need to focus on a single codebase," said Braben. "Elite Dangerous will continue on console as it is now together with critical updates, but we will focus on new content updates on PC on the post-Odyssey codebase. This was not an easy decision to make, but it was made with the long-term future of Elite Dangerous in mind." Frontier will share more information on future PC development "in due course," he added. 

High-end HiFi manufacturer Denon has unveiled the wireless Denon Home Subwoofer that adds a big bass boost to its wireless Home speaker lineup. When paired with those devices, you can get a true wireless 5.1 surround sound experience for your home theater system.

The Home Subwoofer has a large 8-inch woofer "cleverly fitted to a sleek, compact enclosure" that matches the design of the Home wireless speakers and Home Sound Bar 550, the company said. The aim is to bring a lot of extra bass to surround-encoded music or movies.  

It uses Denon's HEOS system, so you can easily pair it wirelessly with the Denon Home Sound Bar and/or Denon Home wireless speakers. The HEOS smartphone app lets you adjust settings for output level, low-pass filter and phase, to optimize sound for your room's acoustics. 

As with Denon's other Home products, you get access to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music HD and other services, along with audio files via WiFi, AirPlay 2 or Bluetooth. It looks like a solid audiophile option, provided the pricing doesn't give you pause —it's now available for $599.  

Twitter is now also adding labels to accounts and tweets sharing links from Belarusian state-affiliated media outlets "after detailed reporting about their role in the war in Ukraine." The website started labeling tweets from Russian state media outlets a few days in late February in an effort to significantly reduce the circulation of their content. Yoel Roth, the company's head of site integrity, said on Twitter that the company made the decision to label tweets from Belarus, as well, after expert voices highlighted the country's involvement in the invasion of Ukraine. 

Roth said Twitter saw a 30 percent drop in impressions on Tweets from Russian state media based on early data, suggesting that the company has been successful in its goal to limit those outlets' reach. Similar to what it did to the Russian state outlets, Twitter will also reduce the visibility of labeled tweets with Belarusian state media content. In addition, users will see a prompt whenever they try to share labeled tweets. 

Twitter blocked ads from state media outlets years ago, but it completely paused ads and recommendations in Ukraine and Russia shortly after the war began to make sure critical public safety is elevated. While Russian authorities had blocked the website since then, Twitter launched a Tor onion service to give the country's residents access to sources about the war other than state media. More recently, Twitter removed posts from Russia's UK embassy over false claims that the bombing of a maternity hospital in the Ukraine city of Mariupol was staged. Twitter said the posts were removed for breaking its rules surrounding the "denial of violent events."

The search engine DuckDuckGo will be down-ranking sites that spread Russian propaganda and disinformation. In a tweet, founder and CEO Gabriel Weinberg wrote that the privacy-focused search engine would be releasing updates that would ensure Russian disinformation sites rank further down in search results. Earlier this month, DuckDuckGo announced it would pause its relationship with Russian-state owned search engine Yandex.

Even if it's for the right reasons, putting a thumb on the scales of search results is an uncharacteristic move for the Pennsylvania-based search company. Unlike Google and major social media platforms, DuckDuckGo has neglected to filter out misleading content on vaccines or elections. A number of platforms including the Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram have started to demote posts from Russian state media. Google has been down-ranking search results from Russian state news agencies since 2017.

Known for being a “privacy-minded” search engine, DuckDuckGo does not track its users or sell data to third parties. The company primarily makes money from affiliate links and non-targeted ads. DuckDuckGo, which regularly donates to digital rights groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and non-profit newsroom The Markup, has also been embraced by conspiracy theorists and far-right groups in recent years. A number of studies highlighted in the New York Times found that Bing’s search algorithm, which powers DuckDuckGo, surfaces more sites that promote conspiracy theories than Google.

Many fans of DuckDuckGo criticized the search engine for its decision on Russia, likening it to “censorship”. It’s unclear whether DuckDuckGo will make a wider effort to down-rank disinformation. 

Weinberg did not detail in his tweet which Russian propaganda sites DuckDuckGo would target, or whether the search engine will target other types of disinformation, such as on climate change or Covid-19. Engadget has reached out to DuckDuckGo with these questions and will update when we hear back.

Facebook is changing a rule that prohibits users from calling for violence in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The change, which was first reported byReuters, allows people in Ukraine and a handful of other countries “to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion.” People in Ukraine, Poland and Russia are also permitted to “call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.”

Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement that the company was "temporarily” allowing some posts that in the past would have been taken down under the company’s rules prohibiting inciting violence. He added that the company won’t allow “credible calls for violence against Russian civilians.” The company will also take down specific credible threats against Putin and Lukashenko, according to a memo reported by Reuters.

“As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders,’” Stone said. “We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians.”

The change underscores just how much social media platforms are rushing to adapt their content policies amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Facebook has already taken several steps to limit the influence of Russian state media outlets and took down a network of fake accounts boosting pro-Russia propaganda. The Russian government has responded by banning Facebook.

Call of Duty: Warzone, the free-to-play battle royale game, will soon have a mobile version. In a tweet, the game’s publisher Activision announced it was hiring for a slate of new mobile roles. The upcoming Warzone will be the second CoD title adapted for mobile, following the release of Call of Duty: Mobile in 2019. Warzone fans are likely still enjoying Season 2, which was released last month. The release date of the new mobile game hasn’t been announced yet, though games journalist Tom Henderson did note the title has already been added to Playtest Cloud, a testing platform for mobile games.

Fans of mobile games should expect to see more from the Activision universe. A mobile version of Diablo Immortal is in the testing stages and is expected to be released later this year. Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard—expected to finalize in fiscal year 2023—would give it control of Activision’s enormously successful mobile gaming business.

The Santa Monica-based publisher will be drawing new recruits for the Warzone mobile game during a turbulent time for the company. Activision is facing lawsuits over allegations of sexual harassment and has fired or discliplined dozens of employees it deemed to be guilty. Meanwhile, QA testers at Raven Software—the Wisconsin-based Activision studio behind the original Warzone—recently unionized. Notably, most of the new mobile roles that Activision is hiring for are based at either Activision Mobile, its in-house mobile game studio in Santa Monica or Digital Legends, an Activision studio in Barcelona, Spain.

Major social networks aren't done cracking down on Russian misinformation following that country's invasion of Ukraine. As CNN's Donie O'Sullivan and CNBC report, Facebook and Twitter have both removed posts from Russia's UK embassy over false claims surrounding the bombing of a maternity hospital in the Ukraine city of Mariupol. Russia claimed without evidence that a woman in a photo of the destroyed hospital was a "beauty blogger" and that the photo was staged.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone told O'Sullivan a Facebook post violated rules about content that asserts a "violent tragedy did not occur." Twitter's representative, meanwhile, told CNBC multiple tweets broke rules surrounding the "denial of violent events."

Russia has routinely promoted demonstrably false narratives surrounding the invasion of Ukraine, prompting Meta, Twitter, Google and others to restrict state-backed Russian media outlets like RT and Sputnik. In turn, Russia recently made it illegal for the media to contradict President Putin's official line on the war and has blocked Facebook and Twitter.

The removals aren't surprising given the stances of Meta and Twitter against Russia-based misinformation. However, there may still be room for more action. The Russian embassy in Geneva, for instance, has routinely shared unsupported claims about Ukraine on Twitter, including allegations a Ukraine paramilitary group was using Mariupol hospital patients and staff as human shields. We've asked Twitter for comment, but this suggests the fight over misinformation is far from over.

You don't have to lean on a special tool to know whether or not a Microsoft game will play properly on your Steam Deck. The Vergenotes Microsoft has published a list of the Xbox Game Studios titles you can play on Valve's handheld, and it's mostly good news. Recent releases like Deathloop and Psychonauts 2 are listed as "Verified" (that is, known to play well), and you can expect 2017's Prey to thrive.

Forza Horizon 5 (and 4), Sea of Thieves, Fallout 4 and Quantum Break are some of the games labeled as "Playable." They should work, but you may need to spend extra time setting them up or dealing with quirks (such as using the on-screen keyboard).

You're out of luck if you want to play a few of Microsoft's best-known games, however. Gears 5, Halo: Master Chief Collection, Halo Infinite and Flight Simulator X are all deemed "unsupported" due to their anti-cheat tools.

This list only includes the games Microsoft offers on Steam. You'll have to install Windows (and lose official support from Valve) if you insist on playing the company's wider catalog. Microsoft said Steam Deck compatibility is up to individual studios, however, so don't be surprised if a previously unviable game becomes playable in the future.