Google will update its Google Ads Financial Products and Services policy and enforce it beginning September 6 in the UK. All ads running for financial products and services will be verified by the financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates the financial industry in the UK. 

Microsoft will increase its legal and corporate affairs unit by 20%, reports Axios, as it prepares for what it sees as a years-long wave of tech-regulation worldwide. "This reflects a conclusion that this decade will bring expanded tech regulation around the world," Microsoft president Brad Smith told Axios in an interview. "As I sometimes put it inside the company, the 2020s will bring to tech what the 1930s brought to financial services."

All standalone Gmail campaigns will become read-only beginning July 8, according to Google. Marketers will not have the ability to create new campaigns or create ad groups in existing campaigns. It applies to the Google Ads, AdWords APIs, and other interfaces marketers use to manage Google Ads accounts.

Google announced changes to its Workspace suite of apps and services today. The company said there are more than three billion users of its Workspace apps. Users will have the option to switch to Google’s modern system for Gmail, Docs, and Chat. All of them can be integrated in one tab, for example with chats sliding to the left to reveal a shared spreadsheet. The chat system will soon provide features such as inline replies and native content search, bringing chat closer to services such as Slack.

The European Commission comments come after a year-long inquiry into voice assistants and other internet-connected devices. Concerns of potential anti-competitive practices were triggered by the market dominance of Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, Google Assistant.

Microsoft Audience Ads, the company's native advertising solution, is now available to all customers in Australia, New Zealand, France, and Germany. Countries where it's already available include Australia, New Zealand, France, and Germany as an extension to Microsoft Advertising search campaigns.