The Tale Of The Not-So-Long-Tail

by , Mar 7, 2013, 9:12 PM
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You may have noticed some of my coverage the past couple of days elsewhere on MediaPost about a new source of real media-buying data. The data from Australian start-up Standard Media Index, is derived directly from the data processing systems of four of the six big agency holding companies -- Aegis, Havas, Interpublic and Publicis -- and it is revealing some surprising truths about the relative shares and volumes of all media, but especially digital. On Wednesday, we reported that there has been a dramatic slowdown in the premium online display ad marketplace, due in part to the extraordinary growth of display’s secondary markets, including ad networks, exchanges and programmatic media buying. Today, I can debunk another precept about online media: That it’s a long-tail business.
 
According to SMI’s data, the top 10 digital media companies accounted for 55% of the digital media buys made by Madison Avenue in 2012. The biggest of them, Google, accounted for nearly a quarter (22%) of all digital ad dollars spent by the big agency holding companies. The No. 2 player, Yahoo, accounted for 9% of Madison Avenue’s digital media buys.
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1 comment on "The Tale Of The Not-So-Long-Tail".

  1. Pete Austin from Triggered Messaging
    commented on: March 8, 2013 at 6:30 a.m.
    This doesn't "debunk another precept about online media: That it’s a long-tail business". It actually shows that media *advertising* isn't a long-tail business. This is exactly what you would expect, because advertising has lower ROI for small-sellers, due to largely fixed overheads such as preparing copy and negotiating discounts, so people responsible for these should spend their marketing budget in other ways that are more effective.

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