Tuesday November 1st : RIP to the platform momentum narrative

November 01, 2022

Good morning! Today's newsletter is brought to you by Peter.

There are signs that the days of never ending platform growth are over. Digiday is reporting that, based on the latest earnings reports from Google and Meta, the end is near for this 'blockbuster chapter of growth' in digital advertising.

Google (or maybe Alphabet) missed analyst's forecasts, with YouTube’s ad revenue contracting for the first time since it started reporting advertising in 2019. Even Google’s search ad business, said to be recession-proof, sputtered. Meta had it even worse - net income was down more than 50% year-on-year. Staggeringly, with a 34% drop on the previous quarter of 2022, Meta would be loss making next year if the rate of decline continued.

Amazon is the only member of the Triopoly to buck the downward trend. The online shopping giant turned ad platform posted $9.5 billion in ad revenue over the last quarter, up 25% on the same period a year ago. It's still a long way behind the other two, but at this rate, it could catch up soon.

The best comment I saw yesterday on the Twitter's slow-motion implosion was that the Chief Twit doesn't know how much money he's going to lose on his newly acquired social network. This story about Twitter employees racing to build the company’s first major new feature under Elon Musk - a $20 per month subscription to be verified - underlines that sentiment in thick red pen.

The Daily Mail has outdone itself in the lazy journalism stakes. Sir Michael Take - Mickey to his friends - has been sharing his delight at being quoted in the paper's 'reporting' of the British coastal sewage scandal. "The Daily Mail continues to be an example of rigorous & well researched journalism," tweeted Sir Michael.

* For non-UK readers, this account is a parody set up to take the mickey out of the UK's Conservative government.

I had a blast writing this TL:DR for Spiny Trends and playing with all the AI tools listed. I know there are genuine fears that AI will rob human editors and journalists of their jobs, but some of these tools really could be time savers for busy staff.

This week's podcast:

Our sixth Media Moments episode looks at the world of podcasting, from how publishers are refocusing strategies on engaging superfans to the growing popularity of video podcasts. To discuss 2022’s biggest podcast trends we’re joined this week by Naomi Mellor, founder of The Skylark Collective.

Following the success of our Publisher Podcast Awards and Summit, we're launching The Publisher Newsletter Awards! We want to celebrate newsletter excellence, share best practice and elevate the work publishers are doing in the space. Find out more here.