The Hold of Google and Facebook in the Digital Advertising Markets

The digital advertising sector has been the subject of a thorough inquiry by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. In the year that digital advertising finally overtook TV and other legacy media in the US and around the world, the CMA expresses concerns in its preliminary report on the investigation that Google and Facebook have grown so “large and have such extensive access to data that potential rivals can no longer compete on equal terms.” Based on estimates, 51 percent of the over $600 billion that is spent on advertising globally currently consists of digital commercials; this amount is expected to increase over time.