The digital advertising scene is about to get very interesting in 2018. After experimenting with various advertising products in the past, Amazon is now ready to make its presence felt and is seriously planning to challenge heavyweights Google and Facebook.
At the moment, digital advertising revenue is virtually a duopoly between ‘The Big Two’—Facebook and Google. This is not surprising since advertisers have long been flocking to them in droves because of the potential that their ads might reach the billions of users of the two platforms.
However, reports are now saying that Amazon is now ready to make waves and shake up the current power structure of the digital advertising arena.
According to a CNBC report, Amazon aims to bolster its market share by looking for additional ad revenues within its e-commerce search feature and video products. Also, there are talks that the company is mulling over the possibility of selling beyond Amazon sites and products. Citing unnamed sources, the report added that Amazon is working out a partnership deal with third-party mobile advertising companies such as Kargo for an advertising product that covers both TV and mobile platforms.
While Amazon has yet to respond to queries regarding its advertising business plans, industry watchers noted that the company is revving up hiring for its advertising division. This observation supports CFO Brian Olsavsky previous disclosure during the Q2 earnings call last July where he mentioned that Amazon was hiring more ad sales staff.
At the heart of all the corporate warfare is a gargantuan market that has not shown any signs of slowing down. The size of the global digital advertising business in 2017 alone is estimated at $209 billion. By 2018, analysts project that the industry will experience a 13 percent growth to balloon to $237 billion.
But if Amazon were to fulfill its grand ambitions in becoming the third member of a triumvirate, it will have some serious catching up to do. At the moment, it only accounts for 2 percent of the $80 billion U.S. digital advertising market while the Big Two (Facebook & Google) combined, account for more than 70 percent of the total market.
