Publishers in the Irish market have now come together to develop their own form of programmatic advertising. If it comes to pass advertisers will pay into a central pot to reach specific audiences.
It is a collective solution to the demands of advertisers used to dealing with the likes of Google and Facebook who want to reach a critical mass of readers in very specific categories.
…..In response all of the major newspapers, including the Irish Examiner, The Irish Times, the Irish Independent, the Irish Farmers Journal and the Ireland edition of The Times, are in talks to form an alliance to stem hemorrhaging advertising sales.
You haven’t heard about this nascent coalition, unprecedented on this island, because the talks have been kept secret in the hope of ironing out a deal acceptable to all parties.
Insurance companies, brokers and representative bodies for the industry were raided this morning as part of a probe into alleged price fixing in the motor insurance industry.
It is understood that 45 officers from the State’s competition watchdog raided the main motor insurance providers in its ongoing probe into alleged cartel activity in the insurance industry.
Also raided in the search for documentary evidence was the representative body for the industry, Insurance Ireland, the Irish Independent has learned.
Yesterday, during a Dáil debate about the trend, Independents 4 Change TD Clare Daly said the following:
We all know the overall figures. More than one third of Irish drivers have seen the cost of their insurance increase by more than 50% in the past year. We could all tell our own individual horror stories. It has gone beyond being a rip-off at this stage.
Last week, a father contacted me about his son who paid €2,400 for his first insurance cover. His renewal quote was €3,100, which was then withdrawn, allegedly because he had changed from working in retail to being a labourer. They contacted the Ombudsman who told them to shop around, which they did, but the nearest quote was €6,500.
This car is registered for social, domestic and pleasure purposes. It is not used for his job. The situation is utterly ridiculous. The young man ended up changing jobs because he needed a car but could not pay the cost of the insurance.
The reality is that the increases being imposed are leading people to drive with reduced cover, which is very concerning, or to the imposition of severe economic hardship. It is simply unacceptable.
We know AA studies and so forth have blamed fraudulent activity and high costs in legal claims. However, they fail to mention the profiteering of insurance companies. This is the nub of the issue.
I support the Fianna Fáil measure calling for a national database to record premiums and settlements. This can be done anonymously and would help provide some transparency. The truth, however, is that there is no reason for the current situation whatsoever and the only credible explanation is that a cartel is operating for profit.
For example, in the modern era of new technologies, the use of dash cams can be implemented. A dash cam can record footage which could be used as evidence in the event of a traffic incident. They can record speeds through GPS tracking and issue proximity warnings, for example, when changing lanes.
The encouragement of the use of this type of technology has the potential to massively simplify the insurance process. Do the insurance companies want it? We can bet they do not, because there is a cartel of insurance underwriters and companies profiting from the current situation.
I know of an insurance brokerage company which set itself up with the view to operating with dash cams in particular and using them as a mechanism to reduce premiums and simplify the claims process.
The company was taken over by a bigger insurance company and the dash cam programme has ended up in the bin. That is the real nature of the insurance business in Ireland.
Figures show that the number of collisions has declined with the implementation of these types of technology, which are already available. We could radically transform the situation. There is no need for it whatsoever and unless we get to the heart of the matter the problems will continue.
It is simply unacceptable for young people, in particular, but for other drivers as well, who, as other Deputies have said, against the backdrop of an inadequate public transport system, need their cars and should be able to drive them safely.
