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Connecting the Dots - 5-6-2025 · Connecting the Dots

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  Today's tech news moves fast, but understanding
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  it shouldn't be hard. That's why Snarfl Solutions
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  Group brings you Connecting the Dots, where we
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  break down what's happening in tech and why it
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  matters to you. Now, let's dive in with your
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  hosts. Welcome to Connecting the Dots, the show
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  where we take the day's headlines and figure
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  out why they matter to you. I'm Alex. And I'm
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  Morgan. We're both here from Snarful Solutions
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  Group in sunny Sacramento. Sunny is right. It's
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  Tuesday, May 6th, 2025. And yeah, Sacramento
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  is looking at a high of 87 degrees today. Pretty
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  nice. Definitely feels like summer's knocking.
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  Quick market check from yesterday, Monday the
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  5th. Dow Jones closed at 412 .18 .83. OK. And
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  the S &P 500 finished up at 510 to 650 .38. Got
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  it. So markets are well. doing their thing. Exactly.
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  But let's get into the real reason you're listening.
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  Today, we're diving into three pretty significant
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  tech stories. And we're going to connect them
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  back, you know, figure out how they might actually
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  touch your daily life. Because it's not just
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  headlines, right? It's about the real world impact.
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  Totally. So where do we start? Let's start with
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  food or rather how you get food and maybe how
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  you book the table in the first place. DoorDash.
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  Ah, the delivery giant. What are they up to?
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  Well, they're making a pretty big move. They're
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  planning to acquire seven rooms. Seven rooms.
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  Right. The hospitality tech company out of New
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  York. That's the one. And it's a hefty price
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  tag. One point two billion dollars in cash. Wow.
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  Okay, so DoorDash is looking beyond just like
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  dropping off bags of food. Seems like it. Seven
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  Rooms, they started back in 2011, I think. Yeah,
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  and they work with a ton of places. Over 13 ,000
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  restaurants, hotels, venues. Okay. Globally.
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  Some big names too, like Union Square Hospitality
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  Group, Nobu, even Marriott. So what does Seven
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  Rooms actually do for these places? Is it just
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  reservations? It's more than that. Reservations,
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  yes, but also wait list management, table management.
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  The front of house stuff. Right. But also review
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  aggregation, pulling reviews together and marketing
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  tools. They really focus on creating customer
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  profiles. Ah, so understanding the guest, helping
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  restaurants build repeat business, like knowing
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  you prefer a window seat or something. Exactly,
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  so DoorDash Vyingham. Plus, they recently did
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  that deal for Deliveroo over in the UK. Right.
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  It feels like they're positioning themselves
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  not just as the delivery company, but as a whole
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  tech supplier for restaurants. Yeah. Online stuff
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  and in -store. A comprehensive platform, maybe.
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  Commerce platform. I think they call it. Yeah,
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  the idea is to give merchants tools for everything
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  delivery sales in -store sales customer relationships
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  Profitability make sense keep the restaurant
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  sticky, you know offer them everything they need
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  in one place Door dashes CEO Tony sue basically
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  said that their mission is to grow and empower
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  local economies and this helps them do it faster
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  And what about seven rooms their CEO Joel Montaniel?
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  He must be pretty happy seems like it He talked
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  about helping operators understand guests and
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  grow sustainably and how DoorDash's scale and
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  network will help them do that. So let's connect
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  the dots for someone listening. How might this
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  actually change things for you? Well, imagine
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  using the DoorDash app. Maybe not just for delivery
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  anymore, but for making reservations too, or
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  getting on a wait list. Yeah. And because it's
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  all potentially integrated, the restaurant might
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  know your preferences from your delivery orders
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  when you dine in. Oh, interesting. So like they
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  know you always get the spicy wings delivered.
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  And maybe they suggest a special appetizer when
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  you're actually at the restaurant based on that
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  history. More personalized. Could be smoother,
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  more tailored, but also raises questions, right,
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  about data. Definitely. How much do you want
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  the restaurant in DoorDash to know? It's that
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  convenience versus privacy thing again. Always
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  a trade off. OK, so. from restaurants to the
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  ads you see online. Story number two involves
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  the DOJ and Google. Yeah, this is a big one.
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  The Department of Justice is pushing for Google
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  to sell off parts of its ad business. This comes
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  after that court ruling, right? Where Google
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  was found liable for monopolizing certain ad
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  tech markets. Exactly. Specifically, publisher
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  ad servers and ad exchanges. The DOJ's antitrust
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  case is focused on Google's dominance there.
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  So what exactly does the DOJ want them to sell?
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  Two main pieces. Google AdEx, which is their
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  ad exchange. Think of it like a marketplace for
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  bidding on ad space. Okay. And DFP, which is
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  now part of Google Ad Manager. But it's the tool
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  publishers use to manage and sell their ad space.
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  So basically the tools for both sides of the
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  transaction, the buy side and the sell side essentially.
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  Pretty much. The DOJ argues this gives Google
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  an unfair advantage, letting them you know, kind
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  of control the game. They want to level the playing
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  field. And Google's reaction? I assume they're
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  not thrilled. Not at all. They're planning to
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  appeal the parts of the ruling that went against
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  them. They're arguing divestiture isn't warranted
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  or even feasible. They're pointing out that the
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  court didn't find issues with their tools for
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  advertisers, right? Or their acquisitions like
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  DoubleClick. Correct. Their VP of Regulatory
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  Affairs, Leanne Mulholland, said the DOJ's proposals
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  go well beyond the court's findings and would
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  actually harm publishers and advertisers. So
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  a major standoff. They also push back on giving
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  the DOJ real -time bidding data, I heard, called
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  it infeasible. Yeah, that was another point of
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  contention. Seems like there's a lot to sort
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  out. When does this actually get debated in court?
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  The remedies part. The trial for that is scheduled
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  to start September 22nd this year. So still a
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  few months away, but it's coming. OK, again,
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  let's bring it back to the listener. This sounds
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  very industry specific. ad tech, monopolies.
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  Why should someone care? How does it affect you
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  browsing the web? Well, it's kind of behind the
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  scenes, but the plumbing of online ads affects
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  everything. If the market gets more competitive.
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  It could change the ads you actually see. Maybe
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  fewer, maybe better targeted, maybe less annoying.
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  Could be. Or it might impact how websites make
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  money. if their ad revenue changes, maybe some
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  sites struggle, maybe more move to subscriptions.
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  Right. It affects the whole ecosystem that supports
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  the free content many of us rely on online. It's
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  not just about Google's bottom line. It influences
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  the whole digital landscape. A more level playing
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  field theoretically could lead to innovation,
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  maybe better experiences for everyone. We'll
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  have to see. Definitely one to watch. Okay, third
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  story. This one takes us to Hollywood. Yeah,
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  and potential government policy, specifically
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  tariffs on foreign films. Tariffs, okay. This
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  came up after former President Trump suggested
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  a, was it 100 % tariff? That was the number he
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  threw out, yeah, on foreign films. The goal,
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  he said, was to make Hollywood great again. And
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  he mentioned foreign incentives and subsidies
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  hurting the U .S. industry, plus some comments
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  about incompetence in L .A. Right. Now, the current
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  White House has weighed in, but maybe a bit more
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  cautiously. What did they say? Deputy Press Secretary
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  Kush Desai said, no final decisions have been
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  made, but they are exploring all options. Still
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  using that make Hollywood great again phrase,
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  though. So the idea is still on the table, just
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  maybe not the 100 % figure slapped on immediately.
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  Seems that way. And interestingly, Trump himself
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  seemed to soften it a bit later, saying he'd
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  ask studios if they even want the terrorists.
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  Said he wants to help create jobs, not hurt the
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  industry. It's complicated, isn't it? Because
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  there has been a decline in domestic production.
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  The numbers mentioned were like down 40 percent
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  between 2022 and 2024 here. Yeah, compared to
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  only a 20 percent drop globally. So the U .S.
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  share seems to be shrinking. And they mentioned
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  Rob Lowe filming in Ireland because of tax incentives.
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  That anecdote came up. Yeah. Highlighting that
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  cost is a huge driver. A ProdPro survey also
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  found lots of industry folks prefer filming abroad.
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  Canada, the UK, for budget reasons. So slapping
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  tariffs on films made there, how does that actually
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  help? Wouldn't it just make movies more expensive
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  to bring in or maybe encourage more production
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  to leave to avoid U .S. costs entirely? That's
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  the big question. Does it protect domestic jobs
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  or does it backfire? So for you watching movies
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  or TV shows, what's the potential impact? Well,
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  variety, mainly. If foreign films and co -productions
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  get way more expensive because of tariffs, you
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  might see fewer of them. A bigger focus on purely
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  domestic stuff. Potentially. Or maybe the cost
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  just gets passed on somehow. Could change the
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  mix of what gets made, what gets distributed.
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  And the economic ripples, too. Would it really
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  boost Hollywood jobs? Or just shift things around?
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  Maybe make entertainment pricier? Lots of uncertainty.
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  Especially when studios apparently aren't expecting
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  budget increases. Added costs are tough to swallow.
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  Okay, so... Quite a range today. Let's recap
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  quickly. We touched on DoorDash buying seven
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  rooms, aiming to be a full -service tech partner
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  for restaurants, which could mean more integrated
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  dining experiences for you. Then the DOJ versus
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  Google's ad tech, a fight over market power that
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  could ripple through the websites you visit and
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  how they operate. And finally, this potential
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  tariff on foreign films, raising questions about
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  movie variety, cost, and the future of Hollywood
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  production. three different areas, food tech,
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  ad tech, entertainment policy, but all showing
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  how these big moves can connect back to your
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  everyday activities. And that's what we try to
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  do here on Connecting the Docs. Untangle these
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  things a bit. Absolutely. And remember, if any
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  of these shifts raise questions for your own
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  business or projects, we are here to help here
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  at Snarfles, so reach out on our website if you
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  have any more questions. That's a wrap on today's
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  top stories. Remember, tech doesn't have to be
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  complicated, and we're here to help connect the
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  dots. If you've got questions or want to learn
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  more, visit us at snarful .com. Thanks for listening,
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  and we'll catch you next time.