5 Crazy Stats Behind Facebook and Google's Advertising 'Duopoly'

The media industry is in a bind: It increasingly depends on Facebook and Google to push its content to the masses, but receives very little in comparison to the gobs of money the two tech giants bring in from ad revenue.

A newspaper group — including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post — is now looking to push back against the tech “duopoly” to which they are beholden. The group wants federal lawmakers to grant an exemption from antitrust rules, allowing the outlets to negotiate collectively with Google and Facebook.

News organizations and content creators are simply being demolished by the two tech behemoths when it comes to raking in ad revenue. While they receive a cut of the advertising pie, outlets are now pressing Facebook and Google for a bigger slice.

Also Read: Facebook Just Hit a Crazy User Milestone

To put the dominance of the Silicon Valley firms into perspective, here are five facts:

1. Facebook and Google accounted for 85 percent of the all growth in internet ad revenue in 2016, according to the latest Meeker report — an industry staple.

2. The same report showed Facebook and Google raked in $60 billion in ad revenue in the USA alone last year.

3. For comparison, newspapers made $52.6 billion worldwide for print ads in 2016. (Yeah, that’s a higher figure than we thought it would be, too.)

Also Read: Facebook Project's Artificial Intelligence Rivals Human Dealmakers

4. The two companies are poised to continue whittling away the newspaper industry when it comes to making money: They’re set to combine for more than $106 billion in online ad sales this year, with Google hauling in $72.7 billion and Facebook “only” bringing in $33.8 billion.

5. In short, Google and Facebook make more than all papers, radio networks and magazines combined.

There are a few outcomes in play here, now.

Also Read: Mark Zuckerberg's 'Best Memory' From Harvard Isn't Facebook

Facebook and Google are dependent on newspapers and other creators to generate content, so they could throw them a bone and offer a better revenue share. Theoretically, if heavy hitters like Washington Post and the New York Times all decided to pull their content from Facebook, it’d certainly impact Mark Zuckerberg’s business. Losing reputable news sources would be a loss of cachet for the platform — not to mention, time spent on the network.

On the other hand, Facebook and Google can tell the news industry to pound sand and deal with the current arrangement. Right now, the outlets need the social media firehose more than the other way around.

What we’re inevitably heading toward, it seems, is one of these tech juggernauts buying a major news outlet… or two or three. And that might ultimately be the best opportunity for news groups to get in on the swelling coffers of Facebook and Google — that is, if they get bought.

'Minority Report' and 18 More Movies That Accurately Predicted Future Tech (Photos)

Steven Spielberg's tech-heavy "Minority Report," starring Tom Cruise, is now 15 years old. Considered one of the most prescient sci-fi movies to grace the big screen, it predicted multiple future innovations, including facial recognition, personalize advertising and predictive crime fighting. In honor of the movie's anniversary, click through here to revisit 18 more movies that accurately peered into the future of technology:
20th Century Fox
We're so used to touch screens at this point -- we use them every day on our smart phones, and even at McDonald's -- that it's easy to forget that Tom Cruise used the technology in "Minority Report."
20th Century Fox
Long before Siri, there was HAL. The ominous yet soft-spoken computer system was the antagonist in 1968's "2001: A Space Odyssey." Stanley Kubrick's sinister talking computer ended up turning on its crew in a Siri user's worst nightmare.
MGM
Tech giant Elon Musk is at the helm of SpaceX, which will send two tourists to space in 2018. But "2001: A Space Odyssey" imagined commercial space travel decades ago.
MGM
Elon Musk, Google and Uber have been duking it out to bring self-driving cars to the masses, but Arnold Schwarzenegger might have jumpstarted the competition when he took a robot-controlled ride in 1990's "Total Recall."
TriStar Pictures
"The Terminator" predicted military drones in 1984 -- long before they were introduced to police forces and militaries.
Orion Pictures
Virtual reality is taking over the tech scene. You can play games in VR, watch movies and experience Coachella all from the comfort of your living room. But Hollywood predicted we'd have VR more than 20 years ago in 1992's "Lawnmower Man."
New Line Cinema
The 1982 cult classic "Blade Runner," starring Harrison Ford, predicted digital billboards, which you can see now all over the country, from Times Square in New York to the Vegas strip.
Warner Bros.
Remember when the TSA rolled out invasive body scanners and a lot of people freaked out? "Airplane II: The Sequel" imagined airport scanners that revealed a person's naked body to agents.
Paramount Pictures
Just like other industries, robots are taking over jobs in the military, too. There are even listicles outlining the "coolest" military robots. "Short Circuit" predicted this technology with the prototype robot Number 5.
Tristar pictures
Woody Allen's "Sleeper" had robots assisting surgeons by offering advice during surgery. Today, doctors use robotics to add precision to procedures.
United Artists
The beloved 1960s cartoon "The Jetsons" -- which was made into a movie in 1990 -- predicted the use of robots to clean homes. They had a robotic vacuum and a robotic maid. Can you say Roomba?
ABC
In vitro fertilization and at-home genetic testing are common place these days. "Gattaca," with Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, predicted this tech in 1997.
Columbia Pictures
3D printing is used today in industries ranging from aerospace to medical. In "Weird Science," the boys 3D printed an actual girl.

Also Read: From ‘E.T.’ to ‘Explorers': When Kids Ruled the Big Screen (Photos)
Universal Pictures
We know how dangerous cyber warfare is, and countless companies have been hacked recently. 1983's "WarGames" with Matthew Broderick is all about a kid who walks the line between gaming and reality.
MGM
FaceTime, and Skype before it, are commonplace today. But it was cool new technology in 1989's "Back to the Future Part II."
Universal Pictures
There are a ton of different options out there for smart watches. This was predicted in 1990's "Dick Tracy."
Touchstone Pictures
It's so easy to order Domino's online -- you can even watch how far along in the process your pizza is. In 1995's "The Net" with Sandra Bullock, they showed ordering pizza online for the first time.
Columbia Pictures
Tinder, Bumble and OKCupid are only a few of the many, many online dating options out there. But Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks were on the forefront of the online dating trend in "You've Got Mail."
Warner Bros.
VR porn is growing in popularity. Or as it's called in 1993's "Demolition Man" -- "digitized transference of sexual energies."
Warner Bros.
The 1929 movie "Woman in the Moon" predicted space travel. Obviously, we hit that milestone decades ago. And hey, they even got the shuttle shape right!

Also Read: ‘Top Gun': 30 Things You Didn’t Know About the Tom Cruise Classic (Photos)
Fritz Lang Film

1 of 21

From robotic vacuums to smart watches, Hollywood got these tech trends right

Steven Spielberg's tech-heavy "Minority Report," starring Tom Cruise, is now 15 years old. Considered one of the most prescient sci-fi movies to grace the big screen, it predicted multiple future innovations, including facial recognition, personalize advertising and predictive crime fighting. In honor of the movie's anniversary, click through here to revisit 18 more movies that accurately peered into the future of technology:

View In Gallery

'Minority Report' and 18 More Movies That Accurately Predicted Future Tech (Photos)

7DAYFREETRIAL

7
DAY
FREE
TRIAL