Slow fade for Google and Meta's ad dominance

Google and Meta, known together in the ad industry as the "duopoly," are expected to bring in less than half of all US digital advertising this year for the first time since 2014. While they still tower over digital rivals, their momentum is starting to slow as competition moves in. Google and Meta will together capture 48.4% of all US digital ad revenue this year (28.8% for Google and 19.6% for Meta), down from 54.7% at their peak in 2017 (34.7% for Google and 20.0% for Meta). By far, the biggest threat to their collective ad dominance is Amazon, which has grown its ad business to over $30 billion dollars annually. By 2024, Amazon is expected to capture 12.7% of all US digital ad dollars, while Meta is expected to capture 17.9%. Aggressive lobbying against Big Tech's ad dominance, mostly by the digital news industry and smaller technology rivals, will make it harder for Google and Meta to expand their ad businesses through acquisitions.