Can Amazon and Apple challenge Facebook and Google ?

Google and Facebook published their 2nd quarter earnings report recently.  It came as no surprise that Google dominated the digital advertising investments followed by Facebook.  Globally as per eMarketer report quoted by recode Google/Alphabet claims 33% of global net ad revenue for digital while Facebook 16%.  

In GCC, as per WAMDA; Google has 42% share of the digital investments while Facebook is at 14%.   The gap is closer between the two when it comes to global net ad revenue for mobile – Google 35% and Facebook 23%.  The mobile ad spending in MENA is expected to grow by 534% through 2017 as per WAMDA.  But both companies have started cautioning their investors regarding the future.  Google reported less money for each click in 2017 and Facebook have stated the advertising growth is expected to slow due to limit on news feed inventory.  

Amazon with its own Amazon Advertising Platform can pose as competition to this duopoly.  And once Apple starts integrating AR to their device, it can start garnering a share of the search volume.  Duopoly perhaps moving towards a quadropoly, though not too soon

Google and Facebook have both cited video as a key contributor to their revenue growth.  And both are making prudent changes to consolidate this trend.  One such example is the move by Facebook to offer brands a  ‘6sec video format’.  Videos on the newsfeed mean people spend more time watching videos and less time scrolling the News Feed.  And as per Facebook data, shorter duration has ‘better brand metrics’.  But that doesn’t mean Facebook don’t want users to spend time watching videos.  They are talking with media partners to produce exclusive video content.  

Google have ambitious plans for YouTube TV, which according to them will be advertising funded.  Online video advertising is seeing major changes which can entirely transform the online audience behavior.  More reasons for brands to diligently formulate their ‘story’ to share with their consumers.