Two decades ago, Bill Gates called the Internet a novelty, a lack of foresight that dogged him and Microsoft for a long time. In 2005, Lord Sugar said the iPod would be dead in two years. But at this point it is probably safe enough to say that expectations have most definitely been missed when it comes to wearable technology.

The UK's leading programmatic practitioners congregated this week in Shoreditch at The Drum's annual Programmatic Punch. One of the key themes, for both brand and publishers alike, was the impact that an overly dominant Facebook and Google would have on the market -- with certain estimates claiming they collectively account for over 75% of the digital advertising market.

McDonald's has moved the base for its non-U.S. operation from Luxembourg to the UK after coming under attack from EU regulators over its tax arrangements. While the move away from Luxembourg appears to be politically motivated, McDonald's signalled that the choice of the UK as the destination was a vote of confidence in the UK after the Brexit vote.

A new study from IBM carried out by Econsultancy found that just 3% of marketers would label their ability to act on insights derived from customer data as "excellent," with more than half (54%) labelling it either "poor" or "very poor." Just 7% said they have an "advanced" understanding of the customer journey across channels.

The Department for Work and Pensions has appointed MEC to handle its estimated GBP10m media-planning business after a competitive pitch process. The review was open to agencies on the government roster such as Manning Gottlieb OMD and MediaCom. The process was run through the Crown Commercial Service. Media buying for the government is handled by Carat.

Natasha Murray, managing director at Havas Media UK, is joining Guardian News & Media as director of client partnership. She is the second managing director to leave Havas Media Group this year after Henry Daglish, who left Arena Media to set up the7stars' new media agency called Bountiful Cow.

Major German companies including BMW have stopped advertising on Breitbart, the right-wing U.S. news and opinion site that campaigned for Donald Trump and plans to launch in Europe before key elections next year. The boycott, prompted by a social media campaign titled KeinGeldFurRechts or No Money for the Right, follows a similar decision by Kellogg's in the U.S.

Xaxis has confirmed that former European chief executive (CEO) Nicolas Bidon is now president of the GroupM adtech unit succeeding Brian Gleason in the top spot after the announcement of his own elevation to global CEO of [m]Platform. Nicolas Bidon is now president of Xaxis and leads its efforts globally.

Costa has appointed former senior Cadbury marketer Sarah Barron as chief marketing officer, with immediate effect. Barron has worked with Costa on a consultancy basis for the last two years, having originally joined to spearhead the launch of the brand and develop business strategies in Asia-Pacific markets.

Lidl's Christmas campaign has topped a list of Christmas ads most likely to make people buy. The study, conducted by Kantar Millward Brown, tested 19 of this year's "most talked-about ads" and scored each on 12 factors including persuasion, entertainment, involvement, "sets the trends" and "different from others." Each factor was measured out of a possible score of five.