Google and Epic weren’t able to hug it out

It only took the jury four hours to pick a side. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a common treatment used to smooth, straighten and relax Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Epic Games]( won the day. - [Big Tobacco]( tossed its ashtray. - [Christmas tree]( inflation is OK. - [Skincare TikTok](? Keep kids at bay. Project Hug If you were on a jury in a US [antitrust trial]( and you heard that Google executives poured millions of dollars into a top-secret mission — with the supremely [suss](-sounding [codename]( of “Project Hug” — to try and persuade game companies to keep their app developers in their orbit, what would you do? At first, you’d probably say that it sounds pretty bad, right? And then when you realize that the sweetheart deals that Google offered [Netflix](, [Spotify]( and others are as bad — if not worse! — as they sound, you’re gonna decide that [Alphabet]( was running an illegal monopoly designed to exact huge fees from app makers, right?? Yes, of course you are. And that’s why it took a San Francisco jury less than four hours to side with Epic Games — the maker of Fortnite — yesterday. Some background for you: In 2020, Epic sued Google and Apple after it got booted off their app stores for attempting to scoot around the up-to-30% fee they collect from every transaction that goes through them. In the three years since, Epic’s legal battle has raged on, culminating in a loss against Apple, but a significant victory against Google. “The dominoes are going to start falling here. The end of 30% is in sight,” Epic CEO [Tim Sweeney]( said in a [Bloomberg interview]( on Monday. While Apple’s ruling was made by a single judge, Google’s suit let [actual consumers]( weigh in on the world of smartphone apps. They unanimously found the tech giant to be at fault for illegally forcing its own billing system on developers. Although Dave Lee [says]( change is still a long way off, “a brick has been dislodged.” The revenue that Google and Apple generate from these fees is no small amount: It’s around $200 billion a year — income they claim is fair compensation for maintaining their app stores securely. Although customers certainly benefit from the simplicity and security of a centralized digital marketplace, Dave argues they ought to have more choice in where they buy things online. If people start shopping on alternative platforms, Google’s Play Store will miss out on a lot of money as a result. I guess the only one needing a hug now is the person who came up with Project Hug in the first place. I Like My Meats Thin and [My Bass Down Low]( The other day, I was reading this wonderful [Taste Cooking column]( by John Devore and was shocked to discover that mortadella is a Class A carcinogen. John, who has lived his entire life eating gabagool straight out of the fridge, recently joined the Middle-Aged Men Who Have Hypertension Club, an institution that includes 54% of American males. “I love soppressata, the most beautifully named cured meat. If I had a daughter, I’d consider naming her Soppressata,” John writes. But gone are the days of him delighting in double-decker deli meat sandos. John’s doctor put him on 10 milligrams of Lisinopril and told him to swap salami for some SSRIs, a task that is proving difficult: I have kicked cigarettes. I am 13 years sober. But I am struggling to quit deli meats, specifically mortadella, the fatty, buttery, pistachio-studded deli meat from Emilia-Romagna that I enjoy eating directly from the white butcher paper where it was gently laid after slicing. My grocery store deli counter guy in Park Slope, Brooklyn, knows I like my mort sliced nice and thin. We don’t even have to communicate verbally anymore. We make eye contact, and everything is taken care of. But mortadella, like all processed meats, has other hidden evils. It’s been classified by the WHO as a Class A carcinogen, which means it causes cancer, like my old, beloved Marlboro Lights. I found this out because I looked up what the healthiest people in the world—those who live in so-called blue zones—don’t eat. And one thing they 100% don’t eat? That’s right. Even if you don’t have hypertension, it might be smart to lay off on the [lardons]( in 2024. And that’s not the only carcinogen-related risk that should be on your radar. Although John managed to stick it to Big Tobacco over a decade ago, plenty of people are still struggling to break their bad habit, as evidenced by [this chart]( from Andrea Felsted: But times are a-changing. Before the pandemic, the US cigarette market was declining by 4%-5% a year. This year could be about twice that rate. US cigarette volumes are estimated to drop by more than 30% from their 2020 high by 2027 and “analysts have predicted that in many markets there would be [no smokers in 10-20 years time](,” Andrea writes. While this is great news for the health of humanity, it’s a headache for the tobacco industry, which is also trying to quit smoking. Manufacturers are racing to create reduced-risk products for customers, but disposable vapes and cherry-flavored Juuls present a mountain of regulatory risks. Elsewhere in our Very Merry Carcinogenic Christmas is [the bottle of keratin]( that might be sitting under your bathroom counter at home. This fall, the FDA [announced]( that several common treatments used to smooth, straighten and relax hair contain formaldehyde, a [known carcinogen](. In 2020, F.D. Flam’s hairdresser suggested her hair would be easier to style if she tried out keratin. “At first I thought the treatments I’ve had probably didn’t fall into this category — though after doing some research, I’m not so sure,” she writes. And it’s not the only toxic chemical lurking in hair salons, F.D. notes. “An alarming [2022 study]( showed a 2.5-fold increase in the risk of uterine cancer associated with frequent use of any hair straighteners, smoothers or relaxers.” When it comes time to write down your new year’s resolutions for 2024, just remember to stay away from the three S’s: Salami, Smoking and Straighteners. Barking Up the Wrong Tree If you were to buy 12 drummers, 11 pipers, 10 lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree, you’d [need]( $46,729.86. Although that’s a 2.7% increase from last year, Betsey Stevenson [says]( headlines about very specific items — [a 16-pound turkey]( or a [Christmas tree](, for instance — are not good barometers of inflation. “If the price of live Christmas trees is rising because demand is increasing, the higher price sends a message to potential sellers that they should consider planting more trees. Increasing prices also send a message to buyers: Perhaps it’s time to switch to an artificial tree,” she [writes](. If you end up doing that, you miiiiiight want to read this Mark Gongloff [column]( first. “Christmas-tree farming is generally a [sustainable]( business,” he says. So if you go the artificial route, you’ll need to use it for *12 Christmases* to make up the difference in emissions. Perhaps I’m being presumptuous, but I bet you’ll get sick of looking at your [Barbie pink tree]( long before 2035. Crash Course “People are primed to believe that cities like New York are uniquely dangerous when actually almost the opposite is true." Ames Grawert Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU Law School On the latest episode of [Crash Course](, Tim O’Brien [learns more about]( why crime rates soared nationwide during the Covid-19 pandemic. Telltale Charts If you are a parent who needed to Google what a “skincare fridge” was on Black Friday, know that you are not alone. All across the country, TikTok’s GRWM crowd — that’s “get ready with me” for the uninitiated — is asking for skincare serums and toners this Christmas. The most popular brands — Bubble, Glow Recipe, Drunk Elephant, The Ordinary and Skinbetter Science — offer shoppers a wide array of formulas that aim to clarify, purify and brighten skin. This would be fine, until you realize the clientele these brands are targeting are children. They don’t need to cover up dark patches or blemishes at all! Amanda Little [says]( a [growing number](of preteens known as “[baby beauty](” influencers are busy hawking expensive products on social media to insecure tweens. Since [its inception](, the beauty industry has taken a [psychological toll]( even on adults. Do we really want to encourage our 7-year-olds to apply anti-wrinkle cream at night? Let’s hold off on gifting them those skincare fridges this holiday season. And just like that, the two-week climate event of the year is almost over. Did anything useful happen at COP28? We’ll find out soon enough: The draft treaty text released Monday evening will get [voted]( on tonight by all 198 parties to the UN’s climate-change convention. Although the document calls for a rapid decline in coal usage and a reduction in all fossil fuels, the EU’s [climate commissioner]( says it is “clearly insufficient” and full of modifiers that water down almost every paragraph to give polluters a get-out clause. Even so, COP has come a long way since it started three decades ago. “It wasn’t until the Glasgow climate pact two years ago that fossil fuels were even mentioned in a summit agreement,” David Fickling [writes](. Before that, they just wrote “emissions,” as if pollution was some sort of profound mystery. Climate diplomacy is a mixed bag. As [Olivia Rodrigo]( — the pop star who manages to [unite]( pre-teens and dads in their 40s — likes [to say](, it’s always one step forward and three steps back. But with the climate, we need to be taking three steps forward and zero steps back. Further Reading Free read: With the [reinstatement]( of Alex Jones on X, Elon Musk is playing with fire. — Dave Lee The UK’s tax code suffers from [bad policy](. An overhaul is overdue. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Macy’s is finally getting its magic back, but a [$5.8 billion offer]( could derail the whole thing. — Leticia Miranda Shohei Ohtani’s [record contract]( is structured in a way that will be a case study for MBAs. — John Authers The [Weeknd]( and [KISS]( are just the start: More musicians and fans should embrace [avatar-based concerts](. — Daniel Pimentel India’s [options craze]( has outstripped the underlying stock market more than in any other country. — Andy Mukherjee The revival of [Mercosur’s deal with the EU]( depends on spurring greater intraregional trade. — Shannon O'Neil ICYMI Twitter was [all the things]( until Elon Musk killed it. [This defamation trial]( could be the end of Rudy Giuliani. A JPMorgan client with dementia [lost $50 million]( in five years. Harvard is [richer]( than the economies of 120 nations. Kanye wore a KKK-esque [black hood]( to his album party. Sports Illustrated publisher [fired]( the CEO after an AI scandal. Kickers [Doritos liquor]( is a thing now. The best-sounding [didgeridoos](. Olivia Rodrigo stabbed [her cakes](. The Nativity scene [turned 800](. [Faccia Brutto]( is Brooklyn’s signature drink. Taylor Swift’s birthday is [tomorrow](. Notes: Please send a didgeridoo and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. 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