Competition in Digital Advertising

I recently came across an article in The Economist that illustrates how the digital advertising landscape is becoming less impervious to the macroeconomic environment and more diversified as tech companies such as Apple, TikTok, and Amazon gain market share on incumbents such as Google and Meta. This latter is particularly interesting because it’s not a matter of more companies simply entering the search and display ad space, but rather, they’re innovating in alternative ad formats, such as audio, streaming TV, gaming, and platforms that rely on first-party data as a way to avoid anti-tracking initiatives.

I thought it was interesting timing given the recent ruling by a U.S. District Court that struck down much of the Texas Attorney General’s (AG’s) antitrust case against Google’s advertising technology (ad tech) business. While I don’t necessarily think that Google and Meta will see a reduction in antitrust press and lawsuits in the near future – especially given the current FTC leadership’s position on the tech industry – I’m curious to see if there is a point at which it will decline, or if regulators and politicians will always see it as in their best interest to publicly denounce and attack “big tech”.

Articles:

• https://www.economist.com/business/2022/09/18/the-300bn-google-meta-advertising-duopoly-is-under-attack
• https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/public-policy/the-courts-decision-to-dismiss-much-of-the-texas-ags-antitrust-case/