Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Garrett Johnson

@garjoh.bsky.social

The paradigm shift in performance ad creative is just mind blowing for marketers.
open.spotify.com/episode/2BWI...

The Science of Creative (And Other Hot Takes) with Uber and Dr. Squatch

open.spotify.com

October 25, 2025 at 7:08 PM

Garrett Johnson

@garjoh.bsky.social

Google is largely shutting down the Privacy Sandbox.
Surviving: CHIPS, FedCM, Private State Tokens
Out 💀 : (Anything you’ve heard of!) Topics, Protected Audience API, Attribution Reporting API, Private Aggregation, Related Web Sites…
privacysandbox.com/news/update-...

Update on Plans for Privacy Sandbox Technologies

In this October 2025 announcement, the Privacy Sandbox team shares updates on plans for Privacy Sandbox technologies.

privacysandbox.com

October 17, 2025 at 12:30 PM

Garrett Johnson

@garjoh.bsky.social

Today, the UK Competition & Markets Authority decided to release Google from its Privacy Sandbox-related commitments.
Read more: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68f213...

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

October 17, 2025 at 12:15 PM

Garrett Johnson

@garjoh.bsky.social

Quoted in this The Wall Street Journal piece on proposed standards for ad auctions, which are critical to ensuring the efficiency & integrity of modern advertising.

www.wsj.com/articles/adv...

Exclusive | Advertisers Push Big Tech to Adopt Standards for Transparency in Ad Sales

A new proposal asks digital ad auctions to voluntarily disclose how they pick winners and set prices.

www.wsj.com

October 9, 2025 at 11:22 PM

Reposted by Garrett Johnson

The Tennessee Holler

@thetnholler.bsky.social

SOUTH CAROLINA… “Judge Goodstein was walking on the beach when the fire started. Her husband, Arnie, was in the house with children and perhaps grandchildren. The family had to escape by jumping from a window or balcony...” www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

October 5, 2025 at 10:20 PM

Garrett Johnson

@garjoh.bsky.social

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/o...

Opinion | Where’s Your Evidence, Mr. President?

www.nytimes.com

August 26, 2025 at 9:25 PM

Reposted by Garrett Johnson

Brendan Nyhan

@brendannyhan.bsky.social

Horrific. mRNA vaccines have saved millions of lives and could save millions more.

“I don’t think I’ve seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business,” said Mike Osterholm, a UMN expert on infectious diseases & pandemic preparations.
www.huffpost.com/entry/rfk-va...

August 6, 2025 at 2:36 AM

Reposted by Garrett Johnson

Aaron Sojourner

@aaronsojourner.org

Janet Yellen's husband & Econ Nobel Laureate George Akerlof:

"...when presidents flip the board, it’s not just a game that ends. It’s the pieces of democracy that get scattered to the floor."
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/o...

Imagine a group of 5-year-olds playing a board game. The rules are clear, the goal is fair, and one child edges ahead — until, suddenly, another child starts losing. That’s when the trouble begins. “He cheated!” the losing child yells. “I’m the winner anyway!” he declares. And then, like clockwork, he flips the board. In the world of kindergarten conflict resolution, we expect this kind of behavior. We chalk it up to development. We teach better sportsmanship.

What do we do when the president of the United States behaves this way? On Friday, President Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics — the nation’s workaday scorekeeper of employment, wages and productivity. Why? Because the data didn’t make Mr. Trump look good. The statistics were inconvenient. So the president didn’t just challenge the findings; he fired the statistician. That’s not governing. That’s board flipping.

August 3, 2025 at 5:56 PM

Reposted by Garrett Johnson

Mike Masnick

@mmasnick.bsky.social

I subscribe to @theonion.com for the ads.

ICE is hiring!
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is looking for highly motivated, morally indifferent individuals to join our team.
Open positions include:
★Senior Goon
★Racism Enforcement Officer
★ Unmarked Van Driver (Part-Time)
Experience with children a plus
usajobs.gov

Covenant Eyes
We know about your
secret iPad, Mike Johnson

Signal. The official app of U.S. state secrets

BURT'S SHRIMP®
SHRIMP LIP BALM with VITAMIN E & LEMON
100% NATURAL
BURT'S SHRIMP®
LIP BALM
We warned you that our bees were dying, and you did fucking nothing.

July 30, 2025 at 4:13 AM

Reposted by Garrett Johnson

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick

@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social

Marco Rubio, Stephen Miller, Kirsti Noem, Joseph Mazzara, Emil Bove, Drew Sargent, and everyone else involved in planning, executing, and obstructing justice around the CECOT imprisonments are responsible for Andry's torture and rape.

Each bears a share of the blame. Don't ever let them forget it.

Andry Hernandez, one of the detainees who was also released just over a week ago, told NPR that guards routinely beat prisoners with batons in the hallway — or dragged them to a small, windowless cell known as "La Isla," or "The Island," where the abuse was even more brutal.

According to Hernandez, 32, the prisoners would be dragged out of their cells for complaining about their conditions, taking a bath outside designated hours, or even for making too much noise.

Hernandez, who is openly gay, said he was once taken by the guards to "La Isla" after guards noticed him bathing with a bucket outside designated hours.

He said that he was beaten by three guards wearing masks. And forced to perform oral sex on one of the guards. After a couple of hours, he was dragged back to his cell.

"CECOT was hell on Earth," Hernandez told NPR from Capacho, Venezuela, where he's now back with his family.

July 27, 2025 at 8:02 PM

Reposted by Garrett Johnson

Global News

@globalnews.ca

Industry data shows that from March 5 until April 30, sales of U.S. spirits in Canada fell by 66.3 per cent compared with the same period last year.

globalnews.ca/news/1129832...

U.S. liquor sales have dried up in Canada amid trade war, industry says - National | Globalnews.ca

The spirits industry says the sales of American-made products dropped 66 per cent in March and April after several provinces pulled their goods from store shelves.

globalnews.ca

July 22, 2025 at 10:01 PM

Reposted by Garrett Johnson

WeRateDogs

@weratedogs.com

This is Goose. He's here to perform his own rendition of "Piano Man" by Billy Joel. 13/10 please enjoy

July 22, 2025 at 9:51 PM

Reposted by Garrett Johnson

Benjamin Riley

@benjaminjriley.bsky.social

He lived and worked here for 40 years. My god I am so ashamed at what's happening.

July 19, 2025 at 4:42 PM

Reposted by Garrett Johnson

NPR

@npr.org

The House approved a Trump administration plan to rescind $9 billion in previously allocated funds, including $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Congress rolls back $9 billion in public media funding and foreign aid

The House approved a Trump administration plan to rescind $9 billion in previously allocated funds, including $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

n.pr

July 18, 2025 at 11:45 AM

Reposted by Garrett Johnson

SSRN

@ssrn.bsky.social

Can Privacy Technologies Replace Cookies? Ad Revenue in a Field Experiment.
This study suggests that current #privacy-enhancing technologies fall short of fully compensating for the economic value of cookies.
http://spkl.io/63325fCCOL
@garjoh.bsky.social @sjkobayashi.bsky.social

June 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM

Garrett Johnson

@garjoh.bsky.social

Quoted in this Marketplace piece on gen AI ad creatives

www.marketplace.org/story/2025/0...

Amazon has started selling AI video ads. What does this mean for digital marketing?

Gen AI can quickly customize ads for different audiences, but it remains to be seen if they'll hold humans' attention in the long-run.

www.marketplace.org

June 13, 2025 at 10:19 PM

Garrett Johnson

@garjoh.bsky.social

@OSchiffey covered our recent research on the Privacy Sandbox’s performance for publishers and its adoption after Google abandoned its cookie deprecation plans.

@AdExchanger www.adexchanger.com/data-privacy...

No Shade, But Does Anyone Still Care About The Privacy Sandbox? | AdExchanger

Despite all the drama, companies haven’t completely abandoned the Privacy Sandbox, and BU's Garrett Johnson has the receipts to prove it.

www.adexchanger.com

June 11, 2025 at 6:06 PM

Garrett Johnson

@garjoh.bsky.social

🧵1/ Google’s Privacy Sandbox promises to replace third-party cookies with privacy-preserving tech. But does it preserve publisher revenue?
We partnered with @weareraptive to analyze 200M+ ad impressions across 5,000+ sites in the CMA-Google field experiment.
Here's what we found 👇

Privacy Sandbox: Roadworthy? by Kevvo
Source: AdExchanger https://www.adexchanger.com/comic-strip/comic-roadworthy/

June 9, 2025 at 3:50 PM

Garrett Johnson

@garjoh.bsky.social

A recent @adexchanger comic captures the sentiment that Google's Privacy Sandbox is out with Google abandoning its cookie deprecation plans. But, is that the reality on the ground? 1/2

June 6, 2025 at 5:08 PM

Reposted by Garrett Johnson

Karolin Luger

@nucleosomepolice.bsky.social

Please share widely with friends, family, and foes. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/u...

U.S. Scientists Warn That Trump’s Cuts Will Set Off a Brain Drain

www.nytimes.com

June 3, 2025 at 2:35 PM

Reposted by Garrett Johnson

The New York Times

@nytimes.com

President Trump on Wednesday commuted the sentence of a California venture capitalist and major political donor who had been sentenced to 12 years in prison for violating lobbying, campaign finance and tax laws, and obstructing an investigation into Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee.