Email, really?

A recent Forbes article “10 Trends for Digital Marketing in 2022” sites email as the most important digital marketing channel. This was the number one trend listed in the article. The article quotes the CMO of Litmus speaking about a recently released survey that states that a whopping 91% of respondents noted that email marketing was critical to the overall success of their company, up 20% since 2019. This struck me as very odd. In a world where it’s become nearly impossible to look at a screen without being subject too an advertisement, why is the most common digital outlet gaining market share? Isn't email "old school" at this point? What’s most interesting to me is, what does this say about people’s habits? Is one more likely to click on an ad in their email inbox vs FB? If so, why? Social media usage is still going up so, why is the criticality of email as part of digital advertising growing?

SEO for new website launches

 I am planning to launch a new website for my wife’s new business idea and was working on SEO for it with some consultants. The question arised, should I first complete the SEO and then launch? The answer to that is SEO is a journey, its not a destination and I should not wait, else i will have to wait forever. Therefore, the key to launch is new website is the technical SEO. Just because a site is pretty doesn’t mean it will be found, which is where so many new sites go wrong

Now what does a technical SEO include? 

The first thing to focus on for SEO on a brand new website is to make sure that it can be indexed by search engines. Make sure there’s a robots.txt file on the website that tells Google which pages are and aren’t okay for it to consume and distribute in its index

One easy way to see if your pages are able to be indexed is to use a free Chrome extension like Robots Exclusion Checker that will tell you if any pages on your site are being excluded from crawling and indexing.

Make sure your website’s structure is SEO friendly and that search engine crawlers are able to find your inner category and product/service pages easily.

The more chaotic the website’s structure, the smaller the chance of Google showing your content high in SERPs (search engine result pages).If you think about the structure before your website grows, it will be easier to keep all the pages organized and crawlable.

Also, picking the right domain is equally important. Its the first thing Google sees, so you will want it to either support your brand identity or keyword strategy or, in a perfect world, both!”

Changing your domain later can be a pain. Get it right the first time and you won’t have to deal with that headache and those redirect projects later on.

Lastly, make sure your site loads quickly and is customer friendly. Customers expect your website to load in at least two seconds, and 40% of internet visitors will leave your if it takes more than three seconds to populate. You can rely on tools like GTmetrix or Google PageSpeed Insights to check your website’s score. Also, making sure your website is mobile-friendly is extremely important when building a brand new website.

There are many more ideas which we can discuss in our next blog.

TikTok: Forever, Ever?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-parent-meta-faces-uphill-battle-in-video-fight-with-tiktok-11643979603

There are official unspoken rules to social media. One is that you must to have Facebook to keep up with older family members. Two is that you must have Instagram to keep up with the millennials who are slowly but surely taking over the world. Three is that you must have LinkedIn to get a job. Four is that you must have a silly app that is just for you and interests, no shame or judgement allowed. 

Back in the day, and by that I mean 2013, my silly app was Vine. It was the first time I had seen short form video content that packed a punch and I was addicted. I spent countless hours engaging with the platform and I loved that it was ad-free. Then Vine fades away. Then Musical.ly enters and shortly fades away. Then TikTok enters and I’m unimpressed. Up until the last few months, I had been ignoring the fact that TikTok figured out how to supercharge the demand for short form video content and captivate and monetize the Gen Z audience. Now, one of the biggest household names in social media history, Meta, is struggling to keep up. 

It is both obvious and unsettling that a major factor of TikTok’s success is their ability to layer marketing and advertising so subtly into their platform through influencers, that consumers genuinely think it was their own idea. So now it’s on us, the consumers, to fully embrace our gullibility and keep an eye out for how and why new platforms are here to stay. 

Digital marketing strategies by gaming companies

The gaming industry expected to reach $257bn in 2025 and yet in the early stages of the industry, they had a challenge, reaching their audiences and increasing customer conversion, in other words figuring out their marketing strategy. 

However, with the strategy of tapping into gaming influencers, the gaming industry has been able to attract millions of people along with creating a new job segment - youtube influencers, people, mostly teens, who earn millions of dollars while playing gaming and promoting products. 

The following strategies are also employed by the gaming industry to much success

• Mobile is the way to go - Mobile gaming industry is higher than the GDP of costa rica. 

• Focusing on different and unexpected segments of the market - like women gamers are on the rise, especially middle aged women. 

• Video content is key - essentially finding online sources of promoting where your customers gather is key. 

• Switching to cloud is a no brainer

• Brand integrity is pivotal

Appealing to various segments, with steady growth is the way to go. 

Finally, building an ecosystem within the games, that including tactics like buying credits, trading points etc are an essential way to not only keep people engaged but also opens up a potential revenue stream. 

This could be the way of the future in the meta verse with these gaming companies partnering with a variety of retailers to sell virtual shoes, clothing etc

https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/how-gaming-influencers-sway-marketing-in-the-gaming-industry

What if your Pinterest board could be in your living room?

Pinterest is the the process of launching a new augmented reality (AR) tool for home furniture, allowing consumers to see how the items would look in their homes. The tool will initially work with 20,000 products from retail partners such as West Elm, Crate & Barrel, and Wayfair.

As someone who has scrolled for hours on furniture websites and often wondered how pieces will fit alongside my existing furniture, this is welcomed news. These three companies have a wide array of inventory, and for Wayfair -- a digital first retailer -- this will allow customers to feel much more comfortable not stepping in to a show room floor.

I'd agree with the article's industry experts that with furniture shopping being a multiple week long process, inserting your products early on in the consideration journey (e.g., when a customer determines if they want a loveseat or recliner) will really keep these brands top of mind. Marketers for these furniture companies can also then Pinterest users from the moment they type "new bedroom furniture" as their new "board" in the platform, displaying suggested items, as well as prices and potential promotions, too.

That being said, we don't live in a seamless AR world. The technology is still developing and it may just end up being an expensive marketing tool. West Elm and Crate & Barrel's older target market may not be as comfortable with the technology and may prefer in-store tactile experiences to make final purchasing decisions. Time (and good campaign measurement) will only tell.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pinterest-adds-augmented-reality-feature-for-home-decor-11643641203?st=pb5cgms5jvtq85h&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

WTF is Web3?

Article: “WTF is Web3?” - https://digiday.com/media/wtf-is-web3/

The writer of this article found its target audience in me – I think “WTF” when I encounter anything related to blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and Web3.  I decided to focus this week’s blog post on Web3 to uncover a bit of this topic.

Web 3.0, stylized as Web3, is a decentralized version of the internet that is jointly owned by users and builders.  What does that mean?  It is best explained through an example.  Web2 allowed for centralized platforms like Google, Apple, and Facebook to function by monetizing data mined from users on a daily basis.  Web3 cuts out / limits the middlemen (the Googles, Apples, and Facebooks) by allowing users to own their online data and control what information is shared with the websites and platforms they access.  As a result, users can monetize their own data:

“For example, someone navigating to a publisher’s site could log in automatically with their crypto wallet that’s linked to their browser and offer up a predetermined set of information about themselves in exchange for a micropayment of cryptocurrency from the advertiser looking to obtain that information. In this case, users have a more proactive role in knowing — and agreeing to — what data is shared.”

Additionally, on Web3, a user accesses platforms not through a username or password, but through cryptographic proof of identity which is the same everywhere on Web3.  Companies can create their website or platform on Web3 by making a website that ends in .eth rather than .com.

Web3 will have serious implications for the digital marketing industry.  With less power attributed to the middlemen and more to the users, advertising will not have the same role in the web as it does today in the world of Web2.  Users will have the ability and expectation to be compensated for their interactions with a company’s platform as well as the expectation they can provide input about products. 

Meta suffered $10B loss thanks to a change of Apple, and what's more to expected?

In the earnings report from Meta this Wednesday, Meta said the privacy feature introduced by Apple last year could cause Meta $10B in lost sales this year. Another important fact is that Facebook is losing users, which shows the attractiveness of this media declines. This news, alongside with the loss from metaverse, dropped Meta's stock price more than 26 percent in Thursday morning. 

Apple's new privacy feature hits not only Meta, but almost all the apps. Privacy is always good to us, to protect us, but this time who is going to make up the loss? The price of advertising may increase, then the pressure will go to the brands, the brands have to increase the price for their products or services to keep the margin.  

From the other side, it's a test for all tech giants relying on ads to create revenues. Google is less negatively impacted by Apple's new privacy feature (to some extent benefits from this feature, since it suppresses other ads platforms), one reason is Google naturally depend less on the privacy data restricted by Apple this time, and the other is Google is actively facing this challenge - to develop more user analytical tools. Now we see it's not easy for giants to monetize through ads anymore, they need to invest more on advanced ads system. Let's wait and see how they are going to tackle it.

Resources: https://www.emarketer.com/content/meta-s-earnings-miss-demonstrates-vulnerability-of-its-ad-revenue-model-compared-with-google-s

Market your burger... without the burger

Fast food chains are not typically known for the most creative digital advertising, but perhaps they deserve more credit than they’ve been given. The most recent of these marketing novelties comes from Shake Shack’s team, which created a dating app in partnership with DoorDash. The app, named Eat Cute, is available for a limited time in conjunction with Valentine’s Day 2022 and enables customers to match based on the desired spiciness level of their chicken sandwich. Customers who match can earn a free sandwich and also win freebies including a $5,000 Doordash gift card.

Over the years, there have been a number of other fast food campaigns that stood out for their uniqueness. McDonald’s put out an ad featuring Mindy Kaling in a bright yellow dress against a red backdrop, with absolutely no mention of burgers or the McDonald’s brand. Meanwhile, Burger King attempted to grab the attention of viewers and their smart home devices with the phrase “OK Google, what is a Whopper burger?”

At the end of the day, customers value fast food chains for two reasons – their convenience and consistency. These are products that have not changed for years and, arguably, all of these brands are household names that do not require much advertisting, if any. However, each company pours millions into advertising every year. It’s not clear how much in additional sales such advertising can directly generate but, at least in Shake Shack’s case, the novel dating app also comes with the perk of gathering customer data that the company can independently own and leverage.

Personal Boundaries in Metaverse

I was a poli sci major in college and had to read many social literatures from the likes of Rousseau, Locke, and Macchiavelli to understand the philosophies and social contracts that shaped modern societies.  I found the writings and their implication hard to grasp at the time, but I never would have expected that we would be discussing social agreements that need to be established for digital worlds.

When I read that Meta is adding "personal boundaries" to VR avatars to stop harassment, I wasn't surprised. I know it's not Meta's fault, it's human nature, which Meta leadership never misses to remind us. But just as they have yet to find a sustainable solution to a slew of problems like harassment, demeaning comments, misinformation, polarization that current platforms host and foster, I don't have much faith that they will figure out how to place norms and protections in a fully virtual world where risk factors will be heightened and control/definition over permissible behavior will become harder to manage. 

Meta says it's a virtual reflection of the real world. There are enough problems in the real world. Do we really need another version of an imperfect world to try to live in? 

Reference:

https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/4/22917722/meta-horizon-worlds-venues-metaverse-harassment-groping-personal-boundary-feature

Can TikTok Cut Out the Middle Man Between Creators and Brands?

The TikTok Creator Marketplace launched in 2020 as a way to connect content creators on TikTok with brands. Could this platform serve as a play to cut out the agency middleman? Given the high number of creators on TikTok and the huge volume of traffic drawn to the platform, this could be a valuable tool for both creators and brands alike. However, is a more curated campaign approach facilitated by an agency a more valuable way to market? I think that because of the huge number of creators on TikTok, brands can get low-cost advertising through this marketplace. Ultimately a more curated campaign may be more effective, but brands may look to platforms outside of TikTok for that. For creators with huge followings, many are already shifting away from TikTok to YouTube Shorts and other channels. One reason why huge creators are looking elsewhere is because of the influx of spam requests on the Creator Marketplace. Another reason is due to the lower payments brands are offering on the Creator Marketplace. Content creators with massive followings can get paid more on some of the other channels. As mentioned in the article, the TikTok Creator Marketplace could serve as a solid platform for “micro-creators” but isn’t likely a gamechanger for star creators. Brands can use this marketplace as one tool in a broader digital marketing strategy. Brands and creators alike can still benefit from using an agency in certain cases, offering a more curated campaign for brands, and better terms for the creators as well.

https://www.adweek.com/agencies/tiktok-cut-middle-man-between-creators-and-brands/

Data Privacy and the Cookie Banner Conundrum

Data privacy has been big news and a major focus over the last few years, especially in Europe with the passing of GDPR, the general data protection regulation law. The challenge privacy activists have yet to overcome is that day to day consumers will click consent in exchange for the convenience of accessing information on a website or in exchange for a discount or deals. While some consumers theoretically object to their personal data being collected and used in ways beyond they are comfortable with, many are resigned to the reality of our digital behavior. The latest trend in helping companies achieve their goals is no longer search engine optimization and is instead consent rate optimization, or creating banners to help increase the number of people that will click accept. Of course SEO is still important, but many companies are getting creative with how to cope with the increase in regulation around data privacy. Some of the forthcoming laws are designed to force technology companies to make it easier for consumers to make informed choices about their data privacy, though it remains unclear how far consumers will go to restrict access if it means more clicks away from their intended search. We’ve become spoiled with the speed and convenience of information. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/29/business/dealbook/how-cookie-banners-backfired.html?searchResultPosition=2

U.S. ADVERTISING EMPLOYMENT FELL IN JANUARY

 https://adage.com/article/datacenter/us-advertising-employment-fell-5900-jobs-january/2397561

I found this article outlining the trends in employment for US advertising. I found it particularly interesting that the jobs fell off a cliff at the beginning of the pandemic (where they were presumably at all time highs), but have since recovered fairly consistently until this past month in Jan 2022. I would have thought the jobs would have been at higher levels over the past few months given the increased focus on ecommerce and online ordering. If I had to guess, I would assume these trends are instead showing the layoffs that many businesses had to undergo in the early days, and have only slowly, incrementally regained the employee counts that were seen prior to the pandemic. On top of this, this chart may also be an indication of the massive scale that digital advertising has with limited employees - and if a framework is followed, a few people can do the job of many. It is my understanding that a lot of the work being done across digital marketing is knowing what data to track and reacting to it accordingly, and I think that the trends shown in this chart are a reflection of that. With all the being said, it is interesting to see the employment fell again in January. If I had to venture a guess, I would assume this is related to the latest strand of coronavirus, and the impact that it ultimately is having on businesses financial performance - and thus capacity to hold onto employees. 

Super Bowl Ads - Are They Still Worth The Money

TikTok and Instagram Reels have now captivated audiences and are seeing serious investments from brands who no longer see the value in generating TV commercials and ads in print. And then there's the Super Bowl. The average Super Bowl ad in 2022 is reportedly around $7 million for a 30-second spot, a number that continues to increase YoY and I'm not sure this trend is going anywhere. I often wonder if the more that "normal" TV ads seem to dwindle, the more impactful and valuable these 30 second commercials seem to be. And yet, in a time where CPA is so easy to track, I wonder at what point to companies draw the line at cost. It's so much harder to measure the value of TV ads and at a minimum spend of $6M, there has to be a clear ROI. I'll be interested to see how this year's commercials compare to last years and if with the rise of TikTok and other TV-like video content, will creators adapt their message for homes across the world. 

Source: https://fortune.com/2022/02/03/crypto-super-bowl-commercials-binance/

Digital Retail Media Ad Platforms Became More Diversified in 2021

We are aware of the rapid growth of vertical advertisement for relatively a long time, and Amazon is definitely the big winner of this trend. But there is some changes happening inside this market: we see more retailers trying to take a share of advertising business, and they generate huge volumes. This is good news for brands, since they have more channels to choose from and may avoid being squeezed by Amazon.

In 2021, retailers fully embraced their role as advertising platforms. Why this happened in 2021? Retail margins were even smaller than before thanks to the inflation and rising logistics cost. And retailers finding themselves increasingly squeezed by Amazon's low prices and free-shipping, having the ads as an additional revenue source enables them to compete on price and keep the customers coming back.  

Though Amazon still dominates with 77.7% of US digital retail media spend, companies like Walmart and Instacart both grows rapidly, which will post threats to Amazon: Walmart's digital advertising revenues hit $1.55B in 2021, increased 53.5% compared to last year. Instacart is expected to reach $1B in 2021, which also increased greatly with comparison to $300M in 2020. 

Will this trend of diversification last? I think it will. Retailers benefit a lot from the revenue in ads which cost almost nothing. They have strong motivations to enlarge their pie in ads business by improving their ads effects to take brands' budget in. From the brands' perspective, all new digital marketing channels with a large traffic worth a try, and brands are more than willing to see the competition between medias become fierce.

Source: https://www.emarketer.com/content/retail-media-networks-hit-their-stride-2021

Why and How marketers should use TikTok?

E-markets should spend time operating their brands' official account on TikTok, and this article explains why TikTok is a good opportunity for brands and how brands can draw attentions from audience on TikTok. 

How popular is TikTok?

• Large user basis and long engaging time: as of Nov 2021, TikTok has one billion active users worldwide (excluding the Chinese version at 600 million users), with penetration of between 12% (North America) and 10 %(Latin America and Europe). The majorities are young audiences. Moreover, users spend an average of 52 minutes per day on TikTok, and 90% of all TikTok users access the app on a daily basis.  
• Active posting behaviors on the app: 55% of TikTok users upload their own videos, which makes TikTok a platform with rich user generated contents. But TikTok is different to other platforms such as Instagram in that it values genuine content from its creators.  

Good opportunities for markers: 

• TikTok is the best platform to reach young audience around the globe. 
• Due to the distribution algorithm, TikTok accounts with 0 followers  can get millions of views, so you will have larger chance to win audience than on other social media platforms.
• Does not require huge budget for video content creation, rather videos produced in ordinary surroundings has just as much as a chance of cutting through, so you can try out topics with low costs.
• TikTok experiences higher engagement rates from the app’s followers than other social media platforms, so marketers can achieve significant buzz with a carefully-planned campaign using content that appeals to the app’s audience.

How can marketers use TikTok?

• Start a branded channel
• Create a branded page
• follow trending hashtags and get involved with the latest memes - integrate into the platform, be organic
• the videos are better in authentic content to resonate with your audience
• Collaborate with influencers
• Influencers can help you create contents that audience like, so you could learn from the influencers about how to market your brand on TikTok
• When influences post your brand's content, they give your brand endorsement, which is powerful in improving your conversion rate
• They could also help your brand reach a huge amount of audience at one time
• Start a hashtag challenge
• Top-performing challenges attract millions of users to create videos, it's a virus-like spreading model and can show the power of your brand to all users
• When users participate actively in creating related videos, they are more likely to be influenced by your brand and have a higher willingness to buy your product
• Run TikTok advertising
• It has the scale like other platforms but it's not yet saturated with ads, so if you move faster, you can have a lower advertising cost and better effects at the same time
• Markets can run in-feed ads, sponsored hashtag challenges and banner ads. You could target not only age, location, and demographics, you could also target people who have viewed similar contents.

Source:https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/an-in-depth-look-at-marketing-on-tiktok

Heard on the trading floor... MSFT+AMZN... Drop FB like you wish your grandma would.

As Mr. Zuckerburg is caught with his thumb in his mouth in the fetal position in his Palo Alto mansion, long-onlys are saying “I told you so”. When it comes to FANG, the band is splitting up… and this is not a Destiny’s Child situation. LaTavia and LeToya are out but, where is Michelle… MSFT is that you? After years of blissful gains, music to the ears of many… Ching-a-Ling style, F&G are bowing out with their heads down low and making an embarrassing exit off stage left.

Facebook and Google, have been taking the short-sighted risk of relying on digital advertising at incredible degrees…FB even more so than GOOGL. “Digital advertising accounts for 98% of Meta’s revenue, and it also accounts for 81% of Alphabet’s. Of the world’s five biggest tech companies, including Amazon Inc., Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp., Facebook and Google are the least diversified.” (BBG Opinion, 2/3/2022) The rest of the world is catching up and learning that you don’t have to be highly concentrated in one revenue opp to be a sexy growth company. Perhaps Zuck-followers were too busy scrolling through their insta accounts to see that the answer was right in front of them, on their iphone… AAPL! Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft “Amazon and Microsoft look far more likely to be in their current dominant positions in the next half decade — thanks to their diversified positions — than Facebook or… Google.” (BBG Opinion, 2/3/2022)

So, you know where to find me, with my nose in Web3 for Dummies until I know better.

When SaaS Companies Should Invest in SEO

 

This article provides a concrete example of how SaaS companies can effectively and appropriately use pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) as part of their digital marketing strategy. Small and/or newly launched SaaS companies immediately embark on PPC advertising in order to advertise their brand to target audiences, drive traffic to their site, and generate sales leads to boost conversion. I think this makes sense given that it could take some time for newly created websites to display in the search engines results pages, if it would display at all. However, this may not be a sustainable strategy when the cost of PPC in the SaaS marketing industry increases substantially and keywords start to get more expensive. A great way to balance this is by investing in SEO as part of an organic search engine marketing strategy from the start. This entails creating high-quality blog content with all the target keywords and backlinks necessary for the search engine results pages. It is true that it could take some time to develop and produce results but this further proves the essential point that there is no better time to start than now. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2022/01/05/whens-the-best-time-to-invest-in-specialist-saas-seo/?sh=6061b9e17b03

Social Commerce is taking off

 Social Commerce is taking off: 6 questions boardrooms need to ask right now

https://www.fastcompany.com/90715490/social-commerce-is-taking-off-6-questions-boardrooms-need-to-ask-right-now

Social commerce is becoming increasingly important. Tools like ‘Shop Instagram’ allow users to have an instant shoppable experience. Users inspired by an ad or influencer are able to convert immediately. It is up to brands to meet users where they are and take advantage of this opportunity.

“Researchers predict social commerce will grow by a 31.4% compound annual growth rate between now and 2027, at which point the global market for shoppable experiences on social media channels is expected to reach $604 billion.” *

In order for digital marketers to capitalize on this I believe they will need to put an increased focus on social content and partners. They will need to create strategic partnerships with creators to get in front of their target audience and establish credibility. Brands might need to loosen up the reins on their brand in order to relate to consumers. They will need to work to find an authentic brand voice in social channels that is relatable and think outside of their traditional marketing ways. 

With an increasing focus on social commerce this is also an opportunity for traditional brands to reinvent or re introduce themselves. While brands can use social commerce to attract a new customer base they will need to be mindful to not isolate their existing customer base. Engagement will be important for brand awareness but engagement cannot carry the brand. How to turn that engagement into conversion will be key. Once brands get that intiatil conversion they will need to work to keep customers engaged with fresh content and drive replete purchases.

 

*https://www.fastcompany.com/90715490/social-commerce-is-taking-off-6-questions-boardrooms-need-to-ask-right-now

The social audio battle: Clubhouse or Twitter Spaces?

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/21/technology/clubhouse-twitter-spaces.html

Clubhouse launched in March 2020 exclusively to iPhone users and it saw explosive growth in app downloads over the year. Despite the app being invite-only, the active user base was ~2 million individuals at the start of 2021. CEO Paul Davison credits Clubhouse’s success and virality to not only being the first mover in the social audio category, but also creating a sense of exclusivity for the registered users. Big names have also appeared on the platform earlier in 2021 such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. However, Clubhouse app downloads have leveled off in the summer when tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Spotify introduced their Clubhouse-like platforms, forcing Clubhouse to quickly launch the app on Android and remove their invite-only feature. These changes helped Clubhouse gain traction again, but the competition is fierce and the article reminds us of the 2016 Stories battle between Snapchat and Facebook. Twitter Spaces is also gaining momentum with 2 million users since its inception, and they have invested in their Spark program that enables hosts / moderators to generate revenue on the platform – the program pays $2,500 per month to audio content creators. Will Clubhouse retain its dominant position and establish itself as one of the top social networks? Or will other, more mature tech firms takeover the social audio category? The advantage of Clubhouse is their focus on audio. If Clubhouse can find a way to attract and provide a revenue generating platform to audio creators, then they will fend off the competition. Maya Watson, Clubhouse’s Head of Global Marketing, is not worried as she states in the article, “more people getting into social audio is good for social audio…we’re not bothered by it, and, if anything, it makes us feel confident in where we’re going.”

Growth in Google’s digital advertising causes hyper growth in revenue

Alphabet posted that Google’s digital advertising did about a 32% increase in sales during the last quarter of the year. This stellar growth is attributed to companies leaning into digital advertisements during the pandenim when consumers were staying at home. 

It is uncertain if Google will be able to continue such large growth for the foreseeable future. The company is facing legal challenges in both Europe and the United States that could cause the company to pay large legal fees or divest in some of its digits sales units. Investors are also concerned that TikTok may be taking market share away from Google as the popularity of the platform is greatly increasing. 

Read more at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-alphabet-googl-q4-earnings-report-2021-11643655993