Amazon Prime has launched two new adverts as part of its global brand platform, “It’s On Prime,” aimed to position the service as a membership that brings users closer to what they care about.

The campaign, in partnership with Wieden & Kennedy, features two new ads directed by Michael Spiccia of MJZ.

“Concrete Jungle” addresses the theme of ‘New Beginnings”, whereas “Double Shot Dad” depicts a new father finding his feet and channeling energy from coffee while balancing work and parenthood.

Both debuted in the U.S. during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve broadcast and is expected to feature by out-of-home, social, and digital display ads.

Other global markets, including Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Europe, and Australia, are also expected to run the work later this year.

The news comes as the ecommerce giant recently announced it is to introduce adverts to its Prime Video streaming service from 5 February 2024.

From next month, users of the streaming service in the UK and Germany will see “limited” adverts unless they pay £2.99 per month to remove them.

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Amazon has announced it is to introduce adverts to its Prime Video streaming service from 5 February 2024.

Users of the streaming service in the UK and Germany will see “limited” adverts unless they pay £2.99 per month to remove them.

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However, the move will be introduced in the US from 29 January 2024.

In a statement, the ecommerce giant said the move will allow it to “continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time.”

“We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers,” it added.

Currently, there is no change to the current price of the Prime membership, and no action is required from users. However, Prime Video stated there will soon be an ad-free option for an additional charge.

Amazon also revealed it plans to expand the move to France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Australia later next year.

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The deal, which kicks off in 2023, makes Amazon the first digital streaming service provider to secure an exclusive national broadcast package with the NFL.

“Thursday Night Football will be our first-ever digital package and we are thrilled to exclusively partner with Amazon to bring our games to more fans on more platforms,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “NFL football drives passionate viewers and Amazon will enable us to continue to grow our fanbase in innovative and compelling ways.”

As part of the agreement, Prime Video will deliver pre-game, half-time, and post-game shows around the matches it is broadcasting and continue to provide features like X-Ray and Next Gen Stats. Amazon will also deliver a slate of original NFL programming and has expanded its rights to in-game highlights for every NFL game.

“NFL games are the most watched live programming in the United States, and this unprecedented Thursday Night Football package gives tens of millions of new and existing Prime members exclusive access to must-watch live football on Prime Video,” said Mike Hopkins, SVP of Prime Video and Amazon Studios. “NFL fans from across the country will enjoy a premium viewing experience with Thursday Night Football, as well as access to a broad selection of content including award-winning Amazon Originals available on Prime Video.”

Amazon first partnered with the NFL for a simulcast of Thursday Night Football during the 2017 season. In April 2020, the partnership was expanded from an existing 11-game Thursday Night Football package to include one exclusive regular-season game each year.

Though Amazon has the exclusive rights to broadcast the Thursday Night Football games right across the US, each game will also be televised in the participating teams’ home marketplaces.

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Bezos steps down as Amazon CEO, replaced by Jassy
Amazon has announced that its Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Bezos, will step down after 27 years. He will become Executive Chairman and be replaced as CEO by Andy Jassy in the third quarter of this year.

“Being the CEO of Amazon is a deep responsibility, and it’s consuming. When you have a responsibility like that, it’s hard to put attention on anything else,” said Bezos in a letter to Amazon employees. “As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions. I’ve never had more energy, and this isn’t about retiring. I’m super passionate about the impact I think these organizations can have.”

Jassy has been at Amazon since 1997 and founded Amazon Web Services (AWS), with a team of 57 people, in 2003. In 2016, he was promoted from Senior Vice President to CEO of AWS.

Reprise appoints Hawking as UK CEO
Chloe Hawking has been hired as UK & Ireland Chief Executive Officer for IPG Mediabrands’ performance media marketing agency, Reprise. She will join the agency in the coming months and report to Mediabrands UK & Ireland CEO Richard Morris, while also joining Reprise’s EMEA leadership team under EMEA President Jimmy Schougaard.

Hawking will arrive from PHD Global, where she held the role of Chief Digital Officer. In the past three years, she has been pivotal to PHD’s digital acceleration, working with clients including Volkswagen, Audi, HSBC, Bayer, Diageo, Porsche, and Hewlett Packard. Before PHD, she held a number of digital leadership roles across a number of media and digital agencies in the UK and Australia.

“I am thrilled to be joining Reprise and the wider Mediabrands group at such an exciting time. Reprise is perfectly positioned to help their clients grow through this era of digital disruption and eCommerce acceleration,” said Hawking. “Their breadth of capabilities across performance content, media and experience management are the keystone of a new age performance agency and one of the many reasons I am excited to join. I am looking forward to applying my experience in building innovative digital services, unified teams and growth solutions for clients in this new role. I can’t wait to work with the talented team across the UK and their impressive clients.”

Boone takes charge of HR at eBay
eBay has recruited Cornelius Boone as its Senior Vice President, Chief People Officer. He will be responsible for all aspects of human resources across the eCommerce company, driving business performance, talent development and acquisition, learning and development, compensation, benefits, HR shared services, and people tools and technologies.

Boone most recently oversaw the people functions for American Airlines Group, where he was responsible for expanding and improving the diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Before American Airlines, he was Vice President of Field Hourly Talent Management at Walmart.

“I am thrilled to join the eBay team,” said Boone. “eBay has one of the strongest, purpose-driven, cultures I’ve encountered and their desire and drive to create economic opportunity for all is truly an inspiration.”

Incubeta hires two to boost ad tech
Zoe Hall and Lauren Stearley have joined Incubeta, a digital marketing services group, as Managing Director of Adtech Solutions and Director of Programmatic respectively. Hall will drive technological innovation and advancement across the agency’s ad tech services, while Stearley will lead the expansion of Incubeta’s programmatic media offering including display, video, and connected TV.

Before joining Incubeta, Hall was instrumental in launching early-stage investment platform Antler, where she worked as Director of Marketing. Prior to this, she was Senior Expertise & Innovation Manager at Fifty-Five, where she expanded and led the analytics departments.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Incubeta and to have the opportunity to apply my expertise to boost the product development at Incubeta,” commented Hall. “The company has continued to grow and innovate during one of the most challenging times for businesses across the globe. I look forward to working with the entire team and being a part of an organization which is a pioneer in the integrated marketing space.”

Stearley arrives at Incubeta from Starcom, where she was Acquisition Marketing Lead. Here, she led on acquisition, while being responsible for developing and implementing strategy across search, social, and programmatic. Before Starcom, she held roles at MediaMath and Index Exchange.

“I’m excited to join a company which is growing so rapidly and providing such outstanding service to its clients,” Stearley added. “With my holistic understanding of the sell-side and buy-side, coupled with my knowledge of acquisition marketing, I’m looking forward to helping Incubeta take its programmatic offering to the next level.”

Sturgeon takes lead on brand and marketing ROI at Kantar
Insights and consulting firm Kantar has chosen Paul Sturgeon as its ROI Analytics Consulting Lead. Leading brand and marketing return on investment, he will support global and UK-based projects.

Sturgeon has 20 years’ experience in marketing analysis and consultancy and, until recently, led Mindshare UK’s data science team. Prior to that, he held senior roles at MediaCom and PwC. Sturgeon is also a member of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) Value of Media Committee.

“Paul is a fantastic addition to our team as we see increasing appetite among our clients for intelligent and focused guidance around ROI,” said Amy Cashman, CEO of the UK & Ireland Insights Division at Kantar. “Marketing budgets have been under pressure for some time, with COVID-19 accelerating that trend.  Now more than ever they need to make their investment go further, and be able to demonstrate to boards how vitally important their activity is for driving sustained brand growth.  Success will require a level of insight which can help them to pinpoint where they need to focus and build effective, creative campaigns that generate sales now, and create long-lasting consumer demand.”

Silverbean appoints Beeskow Blay to lead US expansion
Sarah Beeskow Blay has been named Vice President North America at Silverbean, an affiliate and partner marketing agency, as part of its expansion into the US. She will focus on building the agency’s business in the well-established US and Canadian market, as well as helping to hire the right talent and delivering an outstanding customer experience.

Beeskow Blay has extensive experience in the affiliate marketing sector having held previous leadership roles at Awin Global and ShareASale.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the stellar team at Silverbean. As global e-commerce continues to experience exponential growth, we’re seeing increased demand from brands in North American with a desire to expand their reach to new regions. I’m excited to be a part of the solution in providing these brands with an exceptional service option to further grow their marketing efforts,” said Beeskow Blay.

“Silverbean is in a class of its own with established footing and unparalleled reach across Europe and APAC to help brands achieve their partnership marketing goals.”

In addition to Beeskow Blay’s appointment, Louise James has been promoted from Head of Affiliate Marketing to Global Associate Director. She will work closely with Beeskow Blay and Silverbean Associate Director for Australia, Annabel Grey, to ensure clients have an integrated approach for their global strategy and implementation.

Clayton takes up solutions officer gig at Mindshare
WPP’s Mindshare USA has brought in Sean Clayton as Executive Director, Solutions Officer. He will be responsible for architecting new client solutions, integrating the best data, technology, and analytics products and capabilities across Mindshare, GroupM, and the wider WPP organisation.

Clayton brings more than 15 years of experience across data science, media, and consulting to this role. Most recently, he was the Co-founder of Myosin. Here, he led holistic data and targeting initiatives for a range of Fortune 500 brands across fintech, fitness, healthcare, retail, and eCommerce, as well as major distributors in the entertainment industry. Prior to that, he was Chief Strategy Officer and President of the Entertainment Division at SITO Mobile.

“Marketers cant ignore the rapid changes that our industry is going through, especially in the data and analytics space. There is just too much at stake,” said Clayton. “Im excited to join Mindshare because theyve shown that they will run towards the disruption, and push their clients and the industry to think ahead and work proactively.”

Born Social hires duo on back of management buyout
Hannah Wolff and Harry Fishwick have joined social media agency Born Social as Head of Social Media Management and Head of Creative respectively.

Wolff joins from Three UK, where she was lead creative in the social and PR team, while Fishwick arrives from his role as Video Marketing Manager at TUI. They join a team that includes Essi Nurminen and Kate Higham, who have been promoted to Head of Strategy and Head of Operations respectively, and Head of New Business and Marketing Ed Knights.

A management buyout has left Born Social’s six-strong leadership team with a 75 per cent share of the business. The company’s founders, Rob O’Donovan and Ben Gateley, will retain a 25 per cent stake but will no longer sit on the board.

“Since day one we’ve been a people-focused business and the creation of our Heads of team and internal leadership development programme allows us to continue along that path in a time where wellbeing and work satisfaction are being challenged by the ongoing pandemic” said Ben Tyson, CEO and Partner at Born Social “And this investment in building the next generation of leaders at Born Social is testament to the strength of our clients and teams. We now have an exceptional team in place to help drive the next phase of the business.”

Schmaier named President at Salesforce
Salesforce has selected David Schmaier as its President and Chief Product Officer. He will lead Salesforce’s global product team, strategy, and vision having joined the company through its acquisition of Vlocity.

Schmaier has over three decades of experience building cloud, CRM, and industry-specific vertical software companies as an executive, entrepreneur, board member, and investor.

“Salesforce is an incredible company,” said Schmaier. “I’ve been fortunate enough to experience this first-hand as a customer, a partner, and now a member of the team. I’ve been an admirer of Salesforce since the early days, and the things I admired then are still true now: we have the best products, we define the cloud and other technology shifts like mobile and AI, and we have a trailblazing leadership team, led by Marc [Benioff], whom I’ve known since early in my career.”

Colt turns to Voltolini on strategy
Mirko Voltolini has been named Vice President of Strategy and Innovation at telecoms firm Colt Technology Services. In the newly created role, he will seek to underpin the company’s product capabilities with innovation and the latest emerging technologies in order to ensure Colt remains an industry leader.

Voltolini was previously Head of Network On Demand at Colt – a role where he oversaw the development of the company’s on-demand platform and drove the development and delivery of its online digital customer experience offering. Voltolini also sits on the MEF board.

“I feel very privileged to be taking on this new role,” said Voltolini. “Seeing both Colt and the industry evolve and innovate has been something I have always been passionate about, and I feel this next period will be particularly exciting for our sector. The way Keri [Gilder] has structured our organisation primes us to be ready to assist enterprises as they prepare for their next wave of growth, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”  

Mistry joins Lab as CFO
Lab Group, a collection of digital marketing, technology, and creative services agencies, has appointed Amar Mistry as Group Chief Financial Officer. Reporting to CEO Jonny Tooze, he will be responsible for ensuring the business has good financial reporting and governance, assessing the financing needs of the business and looking at investment to support the growth plans and developing a new phase of the group’s agency acquisition strategy.

Mistry arrives from Myriad Global, where he supported the business globally with its continued growth, helped to secure new funding and assisted with the expansion of the executive team throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. He has previously held positions at Vida Care, E2V, Brash Brands, and Konica Minolta.

“It’s safe to say that I am thrilled to be joining the business at such an exciting time,” said Mistry. “During a period where it would be easy to narrow focus and just survive it is inspiring to see a business with such intention and ambition. I have been really impressed with how the team have maintained humour and goodwill during challenging times, it really is a testament to the strength of the team. I very much look forward to bringing my expertise in financial management, financing and inorganic growth to the team.”

Glassbox names Zaheer CMO
Asim Zaheer has been hired as Chief Marketing Officer at Glassbox, a digital experience analytics provider. He will be responsible for expanding Glassbox’s commercial reach, penetrating new market verticals with the aim of doubling digital market share while also implementing a new brand and marketing strategy for the company.

Zaheer joins the company from Hitachi, where he served as CMO, helping to lead a multibillion-dollar portfolio of data infrastructure, analytics, cloud, and IoT solutions for Hitachi Vantara and Hitachi Data Systems. Before that, he held marketing leadership positions at companies including Archivas and Storability.

“I am thrilled to be joining a high-growth company that sits at the forefront of consumer experience innovations,” said Zaheer. “Glassbox is packed with talented individuals who are fundamentally changing how companies approach and interact with their customers, paving the way for a truly seamless customer experience. I cannot wait to contribute towards their mission and cement Glassbox’s position as leaders in a constantly evolving market.”

Ducker recruited to bolster Journey Further’s creative
Journey Further, a performance marketing agency, has hired Ben Ducker as its Executive Creative Director. He will provide a deep understanding of the traditional creative agency approach to brand advertising and combine it with existing data capabilities to create a performance-led and highly measurable approach to brand marketing.

Ducker has previously worked for VCCP and Fold7, as well as running his own production company, where he wrote and shot campaigns for brands including Carlsberg, O2, Diageo, Microsoft, EasyJet, and more.

“The industry and world is changing quickly, so I was looking to join a fast moving company that can keep up with the pace. The rebellious yet transparent mindset of Matt [Kwiecinski] and Robin [Skidmore] is what attracted me to joining the team, and I can see no better environment in which to create the future of advertising, where data meets creative for true engagement,” said Ducker.

“It’s refreshing to be calling out the ways of the past and exciting to develop a creative agency model that’s able to deliver on imagination and insight equally.”

Octopus recruits trio of advisors
Jack Randall, Dan Thomas, and Dave Kupiec have all been enlisted as Senior Advisors at Octopus Interactive, which provides a network of interactive screens inside Uber and lyft vehicles. The new recruits will be responsible for developing marketing partnerships with top brands to run on Octopus Interactive’s network of over 15,000 screens in rideshare vehicles generating over 60m monthly impressions of saleable inventory.

Randall spent 20 years at Univision, most recently as EVP of Business Development, before acting as Chief Commercial Officer at CivicScience.

Thomas joins Octopus from Active Media, where he was SVP of Strategic Development after senior leadership stints at NCM, Univision, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Kupiec is engaging with Octopus as part of his new consultancy venture, KPI Media Partners, after more than 30 years in media sales and publishing, featuring leadership roles at NCM, Wenner Media, and Conde Nast.

“As the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, people are going out again and rideshare is seeing a strong rebound,” said Cherian Thomas, CEO of Octopus Interactive. “There is light at the end of this tunnel with the prospect of widespread vaccination, and we brought these three industry leaders on board because they have the established expertise and track record to turbocharge our business development in the coming months.”

Tober shifts role at Searchmetrics
Digital marketing analytics provider Searchmetrics has announced that its Founder, Marcus Tober, has taken up a new position as Founder and Chief Evangelist at the company.

Tober, who founded Searchmetrics in 2005, will lead Searchmetrics’ external push to explain the value that SEO can deliver and how it needs to develop in the future. Internally, he will play a cross-departmental strategic role advocating for the needs of SEO.

“When I founded Searchmetrics in 2005, things looked very different but, at the same time, I still feel that SEO has quite a long way to go,” said Tober. “Comparing the effort that businesses put into other digital marketing channels with what they commit to SEO, there’s still a large disparity. For example, companies spend multi-millions on paid search but barely consider SEO. I’ve long been an advocate for SEO, of course, but I see now an opportunity to really increase its’ importance and for Searchmetrics to lead the charge to grow the discipline.”

Alfonica opts for Fawcett to direct on sales
Scott Fawcett has been appointed Sales Director at Rose Communications Group’s B2B telecoms arm, Alfonica. He will work closely with Alfonica’s Mobile, Voice and Data teams and be responsible for the strategic leadership of the sales function within the business, while contributing to overall growth strategy.

Fawcett has 20 years of experience in the B2B telecoms market. He started his career at Genesis Communications and has since held a variety of sales leadership roles at FLR Spectron, Annodata, and IP Solutions.

“I am really excited to be joining the leadership team at Alfonica, opportunities like this don’t come along that often. Alfonica, part of the Rose Communications Group, has already proven itself as one of the most innovative and respected companies in the telecoms sector,” commented Fawcett. “I am looking forward to helping develop the business and its B2B propositions that will benefit our customers in these difficult economic times. My aim is to realise the potential of this fast-growing company, with its incredible reputation for customer service and technical capability, to help us engage new audiences and demonstrate the critical role of effective business communications and collaboration tools to help our clients deliver a greater overall end customer experience.”

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The five-part ‘Origins’ series, which will be uploaded weekly to Tastemade’s YouTube and Facebook channels, features up-and-coming chefs including Hawa Hassan, who was born in Somalia during the civil uprisings; Claudette Zepeda, who was raised on the border between Tijuana and San Diego; Deuki Hong, born in Korea; R?ze Traore, born in Washington D.C., raised between Seattle and Paris, and educated at Le Cordon Bleu; and Jocelyn Ramirez, a Mexican-Ecuadorian American raised in Southeast Los Angeles. Each video will also feature Amazon Fresh shopability.

“At Genesis, we are disruptors: always challenging the status quo with bold design and a unique go-to-market approach,” said Mark Del Rosso, President & CEO of Genesis Motor North America. “That’s why we’re thrilled to team up with Tastemade and Amazon Advertising, to present a digital series that spotlights the stories of chefs who share our progressive and audacious mindset, filmed on a custom-built kitchen set inspired by our distinct and bold Genesis design identity.”

On top of the Origins series, Tastemade is distributing 10 short-form videos across Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest in the categories of ‘How-to’ and ‘Art of Plating’. In the ‘How-to’ videos, the chefs from the social series will create simplified recipes. In the ‘Art of Plating’ videos, the chefs will show viewers ways to improve their presentation.

Amazon Advertising has also created a virtual showroom where customers can learn more about Genesis and explore Origins. This page will also feature curated recipes from meals created during the social series alongside links to the ingredients on Amazon Fresh.

“At Tastemade, we believe every dish provides an opportunity to explore new cultures and traditions,” said Jeff Imberman, Head of Sales & Brand Partnerships at Tastemade. “This series was created with the data and soul-driven storytelling approach of Tastemade along with the reach and convenience of Amazon Advertising to present Genesis with a unique, custom approach to their brand storytelling.”

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The suit, filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, alleges that Kelly Fitzpatrick and Sabrina Kelly-Krejci – two of the defendants – conspired with sellers to circumvent Amazon’s anti-counterfeiting measures by promoting products on Instagram, TikTok, and their own websites.

“These defendants were brazen about promoting counterfeits on social media and undermined the work of legitimate influencers,” said Cristina Posa, Associate General Counsel and Director, Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit. “This case demonstrates the need for cross-industry collaboration in order to drive counterfeiters out of business. Amazon continues to invest tremendous resources to stop bad actors before they enter our store and social media sites must similarly vet, monitor, and take action on bad actors that are using their services to facilitate illegal behaviour.”

This scheme involved Fitzpatrick and Kelly-Krejci posting side-by-side photos of generic, non-branded products next to a luxury counterfeit product. The generic product, which was being falsely advertised on Amazon, was labelled as ‘Order this’, while the counterfeit product would be referenced as ‘Get this’. People who ordered the generic item would receive the luxury counterfeit instead.

By only listing generic products on Amazon, the defendants were able to avoid detection for almost a year. They also posted videos where they would suggest the high quality of the counterfeit goods.

The nugget in this case is that both Fitzpatrick and Kelly-Krejci have been detected and blocked by Amazon before. Fitzpatrick used to be a member of the Amazon Influencer Program, but was removed when the company became aware of her counterfeiting activities. She then continued advertising counterfeit goods on social media and directed followers to her own website. Similarly, Kelly-Krejci began to direct her followers to her own website. The pair also began directing their followers from Amazon to Chinese eCommerce platform DHgate.

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The European Commission has accused Amazon of breaching the EU’s rules, formally levelling the eCommerce giant with charges over its treatment of third-party sellers.

The Commission has reached the ‘preliminary view’ that Amazon has been relying on the non-public business data of independent sellers on its marketplace to help its own retail business. Alongside this, a second formal antitrust investigation has been launched by the Commission into whether Amazon gave its own retail offers preferential treatment, as well as those third-party sellers that use Amazon’s logistics and delivery services.

“We must ensure that dual role platforms with market power, such as Amazon, do not distort competition.  Data on the activity of third-party sellers should not be used to the benefit of Amazon when it acts as a competitor to these sellers,” said Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition. “The conditions of competition on the Amazon platform must also be fair.  Its rules should not artificially favour Amazons own retail offers or advantage the offers of retailers using Amazons logistics and delivery services. With eCommerce booming, and Amazon being the leading eCommerce platform, a fair and undistorted access to consumers online is important for all sellers.”

According to the Commission’s initial findings, employees of Amazon’s retail business have access to ‘very large quantities’ of third-party seller data, which is used to give Amazon’s own products an advantage over those of other marketplace sellers, thus enabling Amazon to avoid the risks of true competition on its platform.

The Commission’s separate investigation will particularly look at whether the criteria Amazon uses to select the winners of its ‘Buy Box’ and to enable sellers to offer products to Prime users lead to preferential treatment of Amazon’s own business or the sellers that use the company’s logistics and delivery services.

The second element of that investigation will focus on how effectively third-party sellers are able to reach Prime users.

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Amazon Luna, available through early access to invitees in the US, will enable people to stream games through Fire TV, PC, iPhone, and iPad, with Android compatibility on its way. Games available through early access via the Luna+ gaming channel include titles such as Resident Evil 7, Control, A Plague Tale, Yooka-Laylee, Grid, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and more. Access to Luna+ will cost $5.99 a month during early access.

Amazon has also struck a deal with Ubisoft to offer a dedicated gaming channel from the video game publishing giant. Those who subscribe to the channel will have access to games including Assassins Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, and Immortals Fenyx Rising.

Games on Luna can be played with a keyboard and mouse, a Bluetooth game controller, or with a dedicated Luna controller. The Luna controller is Alexa-enabled and connects directly to the cloud. And the Luna experience will tie-in closely with Amazon’s Twitch platform, with gamers seeing Twitch streams within Luna and being able to instantly start playing games from Twitch.

It’s important to note that the Luna service does not break Apple’s App Store guidelines regarding cloud gaming services because Luna isn’t a standalone app and won’t ever appear in the App Store. It’s a web app – and you can expect others with cloud gaming services to follow suit soon enough.

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Amazon’s intention to invest in Deliveroo was announced by in May 2019 when Amazon led a $575m (£457m) funding round, which also included funds from existing investors T. Rowe Price, Fidelity Management and Research Company, and Greenoaks.

The involvement of Amazon in this funding round triggered a probe by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the government department deciding to pause the transaction in July 2019.

Now, more than a year later, the CMA has deemed that that Amazon’s investment in Deliveroo wouldn’t be damaging to competition.

“Today’s final decision is the result of a thorough examination of this deal and the markets in which Amazon and Deliveroo operate,” said Stuart McIntosh, Inquiry Chair. “The CMA’s initial Phase 1 review of the transaction highlighted potential competition concerns which the independent Inquiry Group has considered in detail during the Phase 2 investigation. Taking account of the higher legal standard that applies at Phase 2, the Group has concluded that the transaction will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in either restaurant delivery or convenience grocery delivery.”

The decision doesn’t actually come as much of a surprise with the CMA having provisionally cleared the transaction a few months ago.

In April, Deliveroo argued that the coronavirus pandemic had done so much damage to its business that it wouldn’t be able to survive without Amazon’s investment. The CMA agreed and continued to monitor the company’s finances, eventually finding that the recovery of the food delivery market during the outbreak meant that Deliveroo “could no longer be considered a failing firm”.

Despite this, the regulator still came to conclusion that Amazon’s claim of 16 per cent of Deliveroo would not lessen competition. If Amazon were to acquire a larger stake in Deliveroo, however, the CMA has said it could launch another investigation.

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The quarterly reports of the foursome came just a day after they all appeared in front of US Congress over alleged anti-competitive behaviour and bias.

Amazon, as you’d expect, received a massive boost in the second quarter of 2020 thanks to the coronavirus. Its net sales leaped by 40 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to $88.9bn, compared with the $63.4bn reported in Q2 2019. Net profit for the company doubled to reach $5.2bn, from $2.6bn the year prior, which far exceeded analyst expectations.

“This was another highly unusual quarter, and I couldn’t be more proud of and grateful to our employees around the globe,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder and CEO.

Over at Facebook, daily active users were up to 1.79bn on average, growing 12 per cent YoY, while monthly active users also grew 12 per cent to reach 2.7bn. Across its ‘family’ of apps, Facebook reported a 15 per cent increase to daily users and a 14 per cent increase to monthly users, reaching 2.47bn and 3.14bn respectively.

Overall revenue grew 11 per cent from $16.89bn in Q2 2019 to $18.69bn in Q2 2020. Thanks to this revenue, net income jumped 98 per cent YoY to $5.18bn, compared to $2.62bn in Q2 2019.

However, Facebook’s solid performance came before the advertiser boycott of its platform came into full effect, so will be interesting to see what impact that has on the company’s third quarter earnings.

“Were glad to be able to provide small businesses the tools they need to grow and be successful online during these challenging times,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Founder and CEO. “And were proud that people can rely on our services to stay connected when they cant always be together in person.”

Google-parent Alphabet, despite also exceeding Wall Street expectations, suffered its first revenue decline since going public. The company saw revenue drop by two per cent, falling from $38.94bn in Q2 2019 to $38.3bn in Q2 2020. This drop was largely down to the eight per cent wiped off advertising income thanks to Covid-19’s impact on the industry.

Its earnings per share (EPS) came in way above expectations, beating forecasts of $8.21 to record earnings of $10.13 per share. However, this still meant a fall of 29 per cent from the $14.21 EPS of Q2 2019.

“We’re working to help people, businesses and communities in these uncertain times,” said Sundar Pichai, Chief Executive Officer of Google and Alphabet. “As people increasingly turn to online services, our platforms — from Cloud to Google Play to YouTube — are helping our partners provide important services and support their businesses.”

Finally, Apple, which was reporting its fiscal third quarter, posted revenue of $59.7bn – a YoY growth of 11 per cent from $53.8bn and way above analyst estimates of $52.3bn. This also represents a huge turn around for the company, after reporting revenue growth of just one per cent in its fiscal second quarter.

Quarterly EPS was also up to $2.58 – a jump of 18 per cent from $2.18 from the company’s Q3 last year. Analysts predicted EPS of $2.07.

“Apple’s record June quarter was driven by double-digit growth in both Products and Services and growth in each of our geographic segments,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “In uncertain times, this performance is a testament to the important role our products play in our customers’ lives and to Apple’s relentless innovation.”

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