Ireland's data protection commissioner has launched an investigation into Verizon Media following complaints across the European Union about the company's use of online "cookies. "As the Independent reports, the complaints about the company, which has its EU headquarters in Dublin, are centered on "transparency issues." Some of the complaints relate to Verizon-owned websites where, as commissioner Helen Dixon says, "effectively there's no choice when cookie banners are offered. The only option seems to be to click OK." Verizon Media owns Yahoo and the Huffington Post, among other assets.

In related matters, Bloomberg reports that the EU is set for a "September showdown" with Apple over what Brussels says is $14.4 billion that Ireland is owed in unpaid taxes from the tech giant. The two parties will slug it out September 17-18 in the EU's General Court. For its part, the Irish government maintains that the EU's stance is an unfair one.(See Eurobites: Apple Stumps Up €14.3B in Unpaid Taxes to Ireland (But Doesn't Really Mean It).)

Is "addressable TV" the future of TV advertising? That's what Sky appears to believe, as it has been studying this new approach, which shows different ads to different people depending on their demographic profile, even if they are watching the same program. Sky's research found that addressable TV --"AdSmart" is Sky's version of the technology -- can boost ad engagement by more than one-third and reduce channel-switching by almost half. The study used facial recognition analysis, amongst other techniques, to gauge viewers' attention to the ads being foisted on them. The full white paper can be downloaded here.

Germany's Freenet, a major shareholder in Swiss telco Sunrise, plans to vote against the latter's proposed takeover of cableco UPC Switzerland, Broadband TV News reports. According to the report, Freenet believes the price is too high and the conditions unfavorable.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading