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Denmark's data centres have quite a small number of people working!

Politicians often express great enthusiasm when tech giants announce plans to build data centres in Denmark. “It’s an apple that has fallen into our lap, and to stick with the Apple theme, we’re on cloud nine,” Torsten Nielsen (K), who was mayor of Viborg Municipality at the time, said when Apple first announced its data centre back in 2015 . He expected 10,000 new jobs to be created in the municipality. This prospect of hundreds—if not thousands—of new jobs is often cited as a huge benefit to society. Among other places, in West Jutland, where Microsoft is planning to build three large data centres. “I am very pleased when large companies as Microsoft choose to make significant investments in Denmark and help create new jobs. I am confident that this new data center region in the municipalities of Esbjerg and Varde can help develop West Denmark and contribute to growth, new jobs and even greater progress,” Stephanie Lose (V), then minister for economic affairs, said in Microsoft’s pre...

Google could break-up soon?

Many view Google primarily as a search engine company, its core strength actually lies in advertising—it’s the largest ad business in the world. That’s why the ongoing antitrust case targeting Google’s advertising technology may ultimately have a broader impact than earlier legal actions involving its search engine or mobile platforms. A recent court ruling went against Google, and both sides are now preparing to propose remedies in a follow-up trial scheduled for later this year.

At a hearing today, US District Judge Leonie Brinkema set the trial date for September 22. Like in the prior search-related lawsuit, the Department of Justice (DOJ) aims to dismantle certain parts of Google’s operations to restore competitive balance. The DOJ wants Google to divest two key segments of its advertising ecosystem: the ad exchange platform, which facilitates global bidding for ad placements, and the publisher ad server, a tool used by websites to manage and display ads.

Though the court sided with the DOJ on liability, it didn’t support claims that Google’s past acquisitions of ad networks like DoubleClick and Admeld harmed market competition—meaning those assets will remain with Google for now.

The DOJ's proposed remedy would roll out in stages, starting with a mandate that Google share real-time bidding data with external partners. Google opposes this, arguing it would require building entirely new systems and releasing them as open-source tools—something it deems impractical.

The second phase of the remedy involves Google divesting its ad exchange and publisher server platforms—an idea the company also resists.

According to Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's VP of regulatory affairs, "The DOJ's push to force divestitures far exceeds what the court found, lacks legal support, and would ultimately hurt advertisers and publishers."

In its defense, Google is likely to argue that the DOJ's remedy is excessive and unrealistic, pointing out that few entities could afford or operate these massive platforms. Estimates last year valued Google’s ad business at around $95 billion—potentially too large to break apart. Still, Google had similar doubts about the sale of Chrome, and during the search-related trial, multiple companies expressed interest in acquiring the browser.

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