Your morning Briefing: Tech titans face crackdown

Your 2-minute digest of the day’s top stories and must-reads.

Hello readers. Crackdown looms for the tech titans, and can the Aussies fight their way off the ropes in the final day of Test Cricket in Adelaide against the Indians?

(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 20, 2017 shows logos of US multinational technology company Google displayed on computers' screens. Google on May 4, 2018 said that people looking to place US election ads on its platform will need to show identification, and make clear who is paying.Policy changes being rolled out come as online ad 'duopoly' Google and Facebook strive to avoid being used to spread misleading or divisive ads aimed at voters."Our work on elections goes far beyond improving policies for advertising," Google senior vice president Kent Walker said in a blog post. / AFP PHOTO / LOIC VENANCE

Tech giants crackdown

Australia’s competition regulator has called for a high-powered watchdog with investigative authority to rein in the immense influence of tech ­titans Google and Facebook. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has warned that the digital platforms — which are reaping 80 per cent of the growth in the nation’s $8 billion digital advertising market — could be engaging in “discriminatory conduct”.

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09/12/2018: (L-R) Trent Zimmerman MP and Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a visit to the Butterfly Foundation in Crows Nest on Sunday. Hollie Adams/The Australian

ScoMo’s poll slump

Scott Morrison will head to the Christmas break with the titanic task of turning around a damaged government before the May election, with the Coalition ending 2018 in the grip of a poll slump. An exclusive Newspoll shows the Coalition now battling the same electoral crisis Malcolm Turnbull was faced with at the end of last year, with popular support remaining historically low.

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4/12/18: Channel 9's new favourite anchor with big things ahead - Brenton Ragless at Millers Pt in Sydney. John Feder/The Australian

Replacing Karl?

For gossip magazine and clickbait aficionados, there has only been one game in town for many weeks: the endless stream of headlines and speculation about an absent breakfast television host, his glamorous bride and their three-day Mexican wedding. But while the Karl Stefanovic/Jasmine Yarbrough nuptials finally happened yesterday a more significant related story is quietly unfolding. Stefanovic’s on-screen absence has given viewers a quiet glimpse into the long-term future of Australian breakfast TV presenting. That future is Brenton Ragless — an unassuming, 42-year-old newsreader, and a former tour bus operator who has had little exposure outside Adelaide.

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ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 09: Aaron Finch of Australia is caught by Rishabh Pant of India off the bowling of Ravi Ashwin of India during day four of the First Test match in the series between Australia and India at Adelaide Oval on December 09, 2018 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

On the ropes

India has the apologetic Australians on the ropes. Their first victory in Australia for a decade is at hand, writes Peter Lalor. Follow all the action in our live Test Match blog.

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Kudelka’s view

Jon Kudelka Letters page cartoon for 10-12-2018Version: Letters Cartoon (1280x720 - Aspect ratio preserved, Canvas added)COPYRIGHT: The Australian's artists each have different copyright agreements in place regarding re-use of their work in other publications.Please seek advice from the artists themselves or the Managing Editor of The Australian regarding re-use.