Why the Online Ad Duopoly is Going to Get Worse?
Google and Facebook continue to dominate the online advertising space even with the self-inflicted security crisis abounding and the Presidential candidates.
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Updated November 2026. This was first published on 16 June 2020. The idea is the same. Any number below is what the original piece said then. It is not a new count.
Key takeaways
- Google and Facebook continue to dominate the online advertising space even with the self-inflicted security crisis abounding and the Presidential candidates proclaiming to break them up.
- As per the latest report of eMarketer, both Google and Facebook weathered a less-than-flattering news cycle to rake in the liones share over the online advertising spending market.
- Though previously predicted that this duopoly will lose a bit of its edge on the US ad market with Googlees share set to decline by two points in 2018 and Facebookes was set to rise by less than one, but the formeres share dropped by 1.4 points while the latteres share grew by 2.
Online Ad Duopoly #
Google and Facebook continue to dominate the online advertising space even with the self-inflicted security crisis abounding and the Presidential candidates proclaiming to break them up. As per the latest report of eMarketer, both Google and Facebook weathered a less-than-flattering news cycle to rake in the liones share over the online advertising spending market.
Though previously predicted that this duopoly will lose a bit of its edge on the US ad market with Googlees share set to decline by two points in 2018 and Facebookes was set to rise by less than one, but the formeres share dropped by 1.4 points while the latteres share grew by 2. So, this sums up the pair accounts for over 60 percent of the US online advertising spending space.
As per Nicole Perrin, Senior Analyst at eMarketer, ??The digital marketers who are buying media at these continue to believe that ites the best place to put their dollars, irrespective of any pushback they might get in the press.?? Though the duopolyes high revenue is here to stay, her team predicted that both the shares of Google and Facebook will reduce in 2019 and wonet grow as quickly as the online ad market. Thates based on both these companies being huge and it could get hard to maintain growth rates when you are that big.
Meanwhile, as per the report on Nitro-Net, other players such as Amazon continue to be the duopolyes biggest competitor. According to eMarketeres data, this tech giant is slated to sweep up 8.8 percent of online ad budgets and experts believe Amazon will make it to the top quickly. Thates because Amazon has what Google and Facebook have- lots of valuable data. can be used to target people at large. While Google and Facebook can track the websites which people browse and where they post, Amazon knows much more valuable data for marketers. includes what people buy, how often they search for what they want to buy, and how often they buy something. So, with Amazon, the users arrive on their website to buy something, which is way more than when people are browsing on any other site having an ad on. So, they donet even have to whip out their wallet when it comes to data of their users.
Apple Started the Cookie War but Google Will End It #
From a technical perspective, the first-party and third-party cookies have no real difference as they both contain the same pieces of information and can perform the same functions. But, the real difference between them has to do with how they are created and used subsequently that often depends on the context.
The first-party cookies are stored by the domain or the website users are visiting directly. They allow the website owners to remember language settings, collect analytics data, items youeve added to your shopping cart, and perform other useful functions such as to remember usernames and passwords, which help them to provide you with good user experience.
The third-party cookies are created by the domains other than the one you are visiting directly, hence the name third-party. These cookies are used for retargeting, cross-site tracking, and ad-serving. They also allow the website owners to provide you with certain services like the ‘Live Chat.?
How Did Apple Started with Its ITP Program? #
Since introducing the Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) feature within its Safari browser in 2017, Apple is continuing its war against online tracking which limits companiese abilities to track people around the web. Apple has been updating this feature to close the loopholes that companies have been able to exploit while continuing to track people.
ITP 2.1 and Limitations on First-Party Cookies #
Applees ITP Program 2.1 announced on February 21, 2019, created a new set of challenges for online advertisers, tech vendors, and publishers making money from online behavioral advertising (OBA), web analytics, attribution, testing, and personalization. It introduces a new set of measures where Safari eliminates most of the first-party cookies after seven days and blocks all the third-party cookies by default. Thus, it renders the device fingerprinting and long-tail measurement nearly impossible.
So, if your company uses an analytics platform, such as Google Analytics, to track the user interactions with your website, then the data regarding Safari users, for instance, new vs. returning users counts will likely be skewed.
ITP 2.2 Imposing A One-Day Cap on Cookies #
ITP 2.2 announced in April 2019, looked to close certain loopholes that companies such as Facebook and Google had taken advantage of since the inception of ITPes to continue tracking their user journeys all over the web. It reduces the lifespan of certain first-party cookies from seven days to 24 hours.
The cookies must be set via a client-side JavaScript (document.cookie) The users must have reached your website from a site classified as having a ‘cross-site trackinge what it can do such as all major ad networks like Google and Facebook. The link clicked by the user to reach your website contains link decorations such as fragment identifiers or query parameters.
So, this program is taking direct aim at your organizationes marketing efforts, especially done through paid social and online channels.
ITP 2.3 Takes Direct Aim at Workarounds #
Major AdTech companies have eventually found a workaround for the most recent ITP privacy changes which led to Apple releasing yet another update of ITP 2.3 that prevents this solution from working.
The Safari user navigates to your website from a domain deemed to have cross-tracking what it can do such as Google, Facebook, etc. And the user reaches a final URL containing a link decoration. If the Safari user returns to your website after seven days, all of your sitees data will be deleted from their browser.
The interesting thing here is that with recent ITP 2.3 update, the advertisers have a way to extend the window for a strict cap for first-party cookies from one to seven days if they use localStorage method, a non-cookie-based web storage mechanism, that helps the advertisers to improve their measurement and attribution.
The consequences of the cross-site tracking restrictions heighten the impact on user experience and have become more noticeable with ITP 2.3 which eliminates a workaround that has enables the companies to track people on other companiese websites without relying on cookies.
According to StatCounter, an online traffic monitor, Safari accounted for 15% of the global browser market compared to Google Chromees 64% market share. So, online advertising-wise, the ITO 2.3 could be positive for advertisers concerning attribution and measurement. Probably, companies will find other workarounds that Apple will have to cordon off.
Google’s Response #
Googlees plan to eliminate the third-party cookies from its Chrome browser by 2022 is good news for your privacy but terrible for many digital advertisers. But, it is great for Google, as it doesnet have to rely on third-party cookies to power its massive ad business. The website you use placed cookies or tiny text files, usually from other domains known as a third-party cookie on your browser to track you and your interest across the web. These form the backbone of the online advertising ecosystem.
What does this mean for Small Advertisers & Small Brands? #
So, Google that dominates both the web browser and the online ad markets, relies on third-party cookies for some parts of its ad business, may suffer due to building a more private web. Chrome users may not notice how their privacy is affected by this change. it will significantly reduce the number of third-party cookies they will come across throughout their daily internet surfing, protecting them from ad companies, unaware of them being tracked and never heard of so unsure if they can be trusted.
But, Google also collects a ton of first-party data of internet users through its services such as Google Maps, Gmail, Google Home, YouTube, Android, etc., that will not be affected by the ban. Instead, this can become more valuable as the third-party sources of online ad targeting data dry up.
Google is a lot of things as they work with every publisher, advertiser, and agency and therees not much you can do online without touching it. It has already offered options for its users to block the third-party cookies but it needs you to opt-in to so, resulting in not being quite effective. So, Google is giving everyone two years to figure out things before this change gets implemented. Experts are hoping that this will lead to a better and less intrusive online advertising ecosystem. This will spur innovation in the online advertising space as the compromise needed is something which identified a user and their behavior across the internet. is good for the ad companies as well as provide the user with control over their own privacy.
Though limiting access to your data as a user seems like a good thing for your privacy, it will also give the first-party data vacuums such as Google and Facebook, the power in the online ad market, and more control over your data. This is because eliminating third-party cookies simply allows Google and Facebook to track consumers and gather enormous amounts of data while preventing small advertisers. Eventually, both these companies become gatekeepers and the small advertisers will get only what Google and Facebook will allow them to have. So, small brands need to invest in their own Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems.
Googlees Customer Match Program #
Googlees Customer Match program may become even more important as it lets you use your online and offline data to reach and re-engage with your customers across the services from Google. Using the information shared by your customers, this program will target ads to them, and others like them. Ensure to use this advertising tool for your business goals to increase your brand awareness and drive conversions. For instance, on Gmail, you can reach your customers or similar users using personalized ads at the top of their inbox tabs or reach a new audience or target audiences similar to your most valuable customers on YouTube.
Facebookes Customer Audiences from Customer Lists #
A Custom Audience from a customer list is a type of audience you can create to help build the reach of your website or business. It contains information called ‘identifierse that are collected from your customers include phone numbers, email, address, etc. and provided to Facebook, which is processed called as matching to match the hashed information with Facebook profiles that lets you advertise to your customers on Facebook, Instagram, and Audience Network.
Questions and answers #
How Did Apple Started with Its ITP Program? #
Since introducing the Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) feature within its Safari browser in 2017, Apple is continuing its war against online tracking which limits companiese abilities to track people around the web.
What does this mean for Small Advertisers & Small Brands? #
So, Google that dominates both the web browser and the online ad markets, relies on third-party cookies for some parts of its ad business, may suffer due to building a more private web.