Business

Google, Facebook Earn Roughly Half Of All Global Ad Dollars

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Eric Lieberman Managing Editor
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Google and Facebook combined earn roughly 50 percent of all global advertisement revenue, according to Axios.

The two tech giants dwarf all other corporations in the industry with Google and Facebook respectively making $80.8 billion and $36.3 billion in 2017. Besides three other tech conglomerates based in China, the next 12 companies — which includes Amazon, Microsoft, Verizon, Pandora, Twitter, Snapchat, and Yelp — bring in roughly half of what Google collects in ad revenue annually, reports Axios. Combined, the two tech companies account for 90 percent of the growth in new ad revenue.

Their dominance over others in the tech industry is so stark that organizations are worried about its implications.

A British media outlet launched a petition in April to “stop” Google and Facebook from “destroying journalism” by hogging digital ad revenue from traditional news publishers.

“We are concerned that your commercial dominance will drive news publishers who increasingly rely on digital advertising out of business,” the Press Gazette’s official petition reads, directly addressing the two companies. “This will be bad for you (because you will no longer be able to use their content) and bad for society because we will all be less well informed.” (RELATED: Pelosi, Who Receives Donations From Google And Facebook, Pressures Cable Companies To Support Privacy Regs)

Google’s ad revenue is roughly the same as all print ad revenue around the world, while Facebook’s ad revenue is almost as high as all global radio ad revenue.

Google and Facebook’s digital advertisement dominance is why the Press Gazette’s campaign is accompanied with a “Duopoly” logo (a play off of the popular board game “Monopoly”) featuring a figure with the likeness of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

This is just one allegation of impropriety among a litany of others for Facebook specifically. The social media company has been accused of targeting emotionally vulnerable youths and inflating the average viewing time for ads, consequently misleading and overcharging marketers. The several instances apparently show how far the company is willing to go for more ad revenue.

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