Report: Google Controls 44 Percent Of Global Online Advertising

Dec 6, 2011 at 10:04am ET by Greg Sterling

ZenithOptimedia has issued a report that contains both good news and bad news for Google. The good news is: Google controls 44 percent of global online ad revenues. The bad news is: Google controls 44 percent of global online ad revenues.

At a time when Google is defending against antitrust investigations on two continents this news is most unwelcome. The shares of all the other major US internet companies are tiny by comparison, though together with Google they control 61 percent of the world’s digital ad spending.

Overall the internet represents only 16 percent of global ad revenue according to ZenithOptimedia. TV, by comparison, is 40.2 percent of all ad expenditures. Hence Google’s interest in building YouTube into a bona fide TV/cable alternative.

ZenithOptimedia says that globally paid search will represent about 49 percent of all online advertising this year.

About The Author: Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog Screenwerk, about SoLoMo issues and connecting the dots between online and offline. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet. Follow him @gsterling. See more articles by Greg Sterling

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I.T.

The title is erroneous because Google does not “control” it…. The correct title should be “44% of Online Advertisers Choose Google”.

It would be criminal to try to accuse Google of anti-trust when PEOPLE CHOSE THEM! Enough with all the communist in this country!
http://europeforvisitors.com Durant Imboden

I’m not an antitrust expert, but I can’t help wondering it it’s even possible to be a monopolist with a minority market share.
http://www.wpwebhost.com W.H.

I think Google just monopolize everything. I won’t be surprise if one day the richest man is the founder of Google.
http://www.gamerstube.com Joe Youngblood

Google does control it by exerting massive control over market forces. Online video ads won’t go up unless google evenly distributes online video traffic. That simply will not happen as google desperately wants to make billions out of youtube and get in and its content into the living room space.

Google also exerts market forces via their advertising network and also exerts content control through the same market force and their search engine.

If an advertiser challenged Google’s dominance they would simply be purchased for massive sums and in a VC backed world there is little the founding owners would be able to do to stop it. So yes, it is clearly in violation of anti-trust rules. Just because it is not trucks, building and refinieries doesnt mean that the intangibles of source, content and ads are less meaningful.