News Corp kills major Accenture-advised advertising platform project
News Corp Australia has quietly axed a major project that would have allowed small businesses to buy advertising across the company’s publications, and made dozens of people redundant.
The project, known as Veeta and created with consultants from Accenture, had been in development for three years with at least 150 people involved at various stages, people with knowledge of the project said. Upwards of 50 people were made redundant after Veeta was axed, one said.
News Corp quietly axed a major, multi-year project called Veeta.
Two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity citing the sensitive nature of the matter said the project had cost more than $20 million, a figure that the company denies. News Corp Australia’s executive chairman, Michael Miller, confirmed Veeta had been shut down but declined to comment on the specific costs and number of people involved.
Accenture was brought in as early as 2020 to build a platform that allowed small and medium businesses to buy advertising across News Corp’s websites – including The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Herald Sun and news.com.au – and across Google and Meta.
The project started as an extension of a division called News Xtend, which runs advertising for small companies across the company, as well as on Google, YouTube and social media platforms. That team has also lost staff this year, with employees leaving or moved to other parts of the business.
Two people close to the project put the blame on Accenture for Veeta’s failure, saying it was apparent those involved had little or no experience in the complex media and advertising market.
Information filed by News Corp with the trademark office shows that Veeta was registered in June last year, associated with a
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