Altice USA, Charter Communications and Comcast reached preliminary agreement for an interconnect in the New York City market that will launch in Q2 and give advertisers one-stop access to households served by the three, as well as other MVPDs in the New York designated market area, they said Wednesday. The interconnect will manage all DMA-wide non-local advertising sales for local news channels News 12 Networks and Spectrum News NY1.

Consumers will get more control over video ads when switching between laptops and mobile devices, under new voluntary standards announced Monday by the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council. Advertisers signing on to the standards must give consumers timely, upfront notice when serving interest-based ads across websites, mobile apps and devices associated with a particular person or household, following the Digital Advertising Alliance's self-regulatory principles, the group said. Enforcement will begin April 1.

Internet companies and good government groups support the Federal Election Commission online political advertising disclosure proceeding (see 17110900590), with many offering some detailed suggestions, according to the 29 comments the commission posted Wednesday. Google, Twitter and Facebook filings supported increased transparency, citing steps the companies already made to let users know the source of paid political ads. The Electronic Frontier Foundation urged forging "balanced" rules that preserve the "critical role of anonymous speech in our online political discourse."

The Federal Election Commission should require disclosures of online political ad sponsors to align internet rules with those media and broadcast outlets must follow, said Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., Monday. That was the deadline for input on the FEC's proceeding to revise rules dealing with online ad disclaimers. Warner, Klobuchar and McCaskill sent a letter to the FEC, joined by Senate Democrats Michael Bennet, Colo.; Richard Blumenthal, Conn.; Sherrod Brown, Ohio; Bob Casey, Pa.; Dianne Feinstein, Calif.; Al Franken, Minn.; Tim Kaine, Va.; Joe Manchin, W.Va.; Ed Markey, Mass.; Bill Nelson, Fla.; Jack Reed, R.I.; and Chris Van Hollen, Md. “Close loopholes that have allowed foreign adversaries to sow discord and misinform the American electorate,” the letter said, according to a statement. An FEC spokeswoman said the commission reviews comments before posting and the public won't be able to view them for several days. Warner, Klobuchar and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced the Honest Ads Act (S-1989) that would require online political ads to abide by the same rules as those on TV, radio and satellite.

The Federal Election Commission should study the internet’s influence in federal political campaigns, groups urged, responding to a request for comments that were due Thursday. That deadline was extended to Monday after a technical issue with the FEC website. “The public needs a better understanding of how contemporary digital practices in the ‘Big Data’ era affect our electoral system,” said Center for Digital Democracy comments. It said the FEC should revise its rules on ad disclaimers to give the public more specific information about the source and support of online ads. The Campaign Legal Center supports a rulemaking, citing Borrell Associates saying digital ads grew from 1.7 percent share in 2012 to 14.4 percent in 2016. Common Cause said it joined with a coalition of groups delivering “more than 150,000 signatures” supporting a rulemaking so online political have to include “paid for by” information. “Bring online disclosure regulations into line with those that apply to television, radio and print" and Congress should "go further to strengthen disclosure requirements for paid online political activity,” said President Karen Hobert Flynn.

Kohl's customers who buy the once-waitlisted $159 Apple AirPods will receive $30 in Kohl's Cash to spend Nov. 8-16, said the e-commerce site. The AirPods had five out of five stars from five reviewers.

As retailers release their Black Friday promotions, Amazon issued an email alert Monday, announcing deal pricing for its branded products beginning on Thanksgiving. Among its new products announced this fall are the Cloud Cam, sale-priced at $20 off to $99; the Echo Plus, discounted by $30 to $119; the Fire 7 tablet, $20 off to $29; and $30 off the Fire HD 8 to $49. The Kindle Paperwhite e-reader goes on sale Nov. 19 at $30 off to $89, it said. Limited-time pricing is available while supplies last, Amazon said.

Standard Black Friday has been upstaged by Black November at e-commerce company Newegg, which launched a monthlong promotional period Wednesday with “some of the best deals in tech.” The e-tailer will unveil 20-50 early Black Friday deals each Friday leading up to the “Ultimate Black Friday Sale,” it said. The Black November kickoff sale through Monday promises “deep discounts” on thousands of products over 60 categories. A sample deal Wednesday was an Acer Predator 28-inch monitor with built-in speaker for $499 (down from $999) that had sold out at $499 and increased to $699 by Wednesday afternoon.

"Algorithms got us into this situation. Algorithms must get us out," blogged Brookings visiting fellow and former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. The internet, once considered a democratizing tool, is under fire for delivering "a decidedly undemocratic outcome," said Wheeler: The "questionable ads" under scrutiny in congressional hearings this week (see 1710310061) are a result of algorithms that "prioritize revenue over veracity." Algorithms have become sophisticated tools creating an internet that's "become the antithesis of the community necessary for democratic processes to succeed," he said. Wheeler plugged work by Harvard researcher Wael Ghonim that proposes opening the input/output information to allow third-party access to information, a practice that wouldn't violate users' privacy but would provide more information on how algorithms operate. Ghonim calls for an open application programming interface that could be applied to monitor and report on effects of social media algorithms to help independently verify information delivered to users.

Electronics have prominent billing in the 64-page Kohl’s Black Friday ad leaked by deals sites Thursday. Most Kohl’s stores open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving, said a flyer posted by Blackfriday.com, but deals will be available online beginning Tuesday, Nov. 21, it said. Limited-time and limited-quantity doorbusters will be available online and in-store until 1 p.m. Friday while supplies last, said the ad. Notable doorbusters are an LG 55-inch 4K TV, marked down to $499 from $749; a Samsung 55-inch 4K TV at $499 vs. $999; a 40-inch Samsung HDTV at $249, down from $529; a Vizio 39-inch D Series 768p LED TV, on sale for $179 from $209; and a Hisense 32-inch LED TV, clipped to $119, from $179. A Samsung Blu-ray player is $50 off to $49, and a Roku 2 streaming media player is $44, from $69, said the ad. A Black Series projector is marked down by $60 to $39. Canon has a doorbuster camera bundle at Kohl's with a Rebel T6 DSLR and wide angle and telephoto lenses at $300 off to $449. In fitness trackers, the Fitbit Blaze smart fitness watch is $50 off to $149, and a pink Fitbit Alta special edition fitness tracker, exclusive to Kohl’s, will sell for $99, said the flyer. A $119 Sharper Image drone is marked down to $49.