Dive Brief:
- Google, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn combined account for 55.5% of U.S. online ad revenue, according to research by eMarketer.
- Google, by far, takes the biggest share of U.S. online ad dollars at 40.1%. Facebook comes in second with 13.2%, Twitter takes third with 2.2%, and LinkedIn rounds out the top four with a 1% share.
- Two years ago, these "big four" companies took 50% of U.S. online ad revenue. Given the data and traffic advantages these companies have, their share of online ad revenue is expected to continue growing.
Dive Insight:
For digital publishers dependent on ad revenue, 2015 has not been a comforting year. Ad blocking technology and ad fraud have become very real concerns, while new research from eMarketer uncovered a fact that won’t ease any publishers’ minds -- 55.5% of all U.S. online ad revenue goes to just four companies: Google, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Many expect these companies' share of online ad revenue will continue to increase. One advantage these big players have is that they offer marketers a high level of targeting assurance for ads served on their platforms because they can identify individual users through their unique platform log-ins.
Notably, the figures above do not include Apple. While Apple does not earn much on desktop, eMarketer data shows that Apple makes up for 2.6% of all U.S. mobile ad dollars -- a significant share for a company that has yet to make it big in the online advertising space. These numbers show that Apple may be looking to make a play for mobile ad dollars through its mobile devices.