6 ms·

A lot of companies are cutting back big time on advertising spend and that’s Google’s sacred cow of revenue so this isn’t a surprise.

kenhwang 6y ago
I work in digital advertising. Spend* is up. Companies are diverting their traditional advertising budgets into digital. I'd be surprised if Google is unable to capitalize on this. edit: I want to clarify it's strictly ad spend/booking. It's companies committing budgets. They know they will want to run ads and will run more ads. The ads haven't actually run yet, so ad payouts will tank.
- janesvilleseo 6y ago
  It depends on market segment. We have seen a contraction for the vertical I work in. BUT the big players are spending more. It’s the little companies that are pulling out.
  - testfoobar 6y ago
    Can you give an example segment of big players that are spending more? Insurance? Automobiles? Clothing? Entertainment?
    - janesvilleseo 6y ago
      The vertical I work in is Legal. It is probably one of the least elastic when it comes to demand. Courts are closed, but that’s temporary. I have spoken to a lot of firms across the nation. The firms who are in better financial shape see this as a time to acquire market share. Some practice areas will see a bigger demand in the coming months.
- hn_throwaway_99 6y ago
  That is totally not true across the board. I know for a fact that at one point the big online travel sites (booking.com, expedia.com) were some of the largest buyers of adwords among any companies. Can guarantee that is not happening now. I would guess spend is up only among companies that still have robust revenue. Tons of sectors have essentially been frozen for the time being.
  - kenhwang 6y ago
    Ah, yeah, can confirm the travel segment cratered into the ground. I can see adwords being an unpopular product overall at the moment. It's just an awful format for rebranding/storytelling/marketing.
    - aabhay 6y ago
      This is super interesting. I never thought of search ads from the lens of storytelling, only from the lens of click through. Interesting that a lot of SEO-built brands have no way to even reach customers to repair brand now, since search volume is so down.
      - eitally 6y ago
        I suspect this is one of the reasons advertising on Instagram is going gangbusters. The combo of better targeting + a format that naturally lends itself to storytelling makes for a much more compelling advertising platform.
  - sytelus 6y ago
    If I was running travel business, I would be selling 20-50% off coupons set to expire in December, 2022. This does reduce future revenue but will at least normalize the hole today a little bit. I know many people would jump on deals like this.
    - pishpash 6y ago
      I like the idea of futures on everything.
- code4tee 6y ago
  How does that pair off against the reports that YouTube channels are seeing their ad earnings cut in half as digital ad spend drops? Don’t doubt there are companies going against the tide but seems clear as spend has declined. Clearly an opportunity to get good rates for those looking to spend.
  - kenhwang 6y ago
    Google's advertising focuses heavily on ROI/CTR metrics min-maxing and for the most part, well timed and targeted ads. That's not what companies seem to care about right now. Everyone is running feel-good awareness campaigns. If I had to guess, Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/Snapchat will come out of this better than Google would.
- lainga 6y ago
  On all types of ad units?
- tootie 6y ago
  Just had a conversation on this in another thread and the consensus was that spend is drying up and ad-based businesses are struggling mightily. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22873272 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22873272
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- streptomycin 6y ago
  https://adrevenueindex.ezoic.com/ https://adrevenueindex.ezoic.com/ down like 30-40% year over year. Which matches what I've seen at my sites.
  - chrisfrantz 6y ago
    This is a cool resource, thanks for sharing.
- dehrmann 6y ago
  NBC is cutting back on ad slots[1]. > The ad reductions will occur in news programming, late-night NBC and Bravo shows, reality programming, competition shows like America’s Got Talent and other cable originals. The only reason they're doing this is they don't have enough buyers to fill the slots. Traditional media is great for brand advertising, but it's so hard to show ROI, I can see the wisdom to shifting budget to Facebook and Google. 1: https://www.adweek.com/tv-video/nbcuniversal-will-permanently-reduce-linear-ads-amid-covid-19-crisis/ https://www.adweek.com/tv-video/nbcuniversal-will-permanentl...

kenhwang 6y ago

I work in digital advertising. Spend* is up. Companies are diverting their traditional advertising budgets into digital. I'd be surprised if Google is unable to capitalize on this. edit: I want to clarify it's strictly ad spend/booking. It's companies committing budgets. They know they will want to run ads and will run more ads. The ads haven't actually run yet, so ad payouts will tank.

janesvilleseo 6y ago
It depends on market segment. We have seen a contraction for the vertical I work in. BUT the big players are spending more. It’s the little companies that are pulling out.
- testfoobar 6y ago
  Can you give an example segment of big players that are spending more? Insurance? Automobiles? Clothing? Entertainment?
  - janesvilleseo 6y ago
    The vertical I work in is Legal. It is probably one of the least elastic when it comes to demand. Courts are closed, but that’s temporary. I have spoken to a lot of firms across the nation. The firms who are in better financial shape see this as a time to acquire market share. Some practice areas will see a bigger demand in the coming months.
hn_throwaway_99 6y ago
That is totally not true across the board. I know for a fact that at one point the big online travel sites (booking.com, expedia.com) were some of the largest buyers of adwords among any companies. Can guarantee that is not happening now. I would guess spend is up only among companies that still have robust revenue. Tons of sectors have essentially been frozen for the time being.
- kenhwang 6y ago
  Ah, yeah, can confirm the travel segment cratered into the ground. I can see adwords being an unpopular product overall at the moment. It's just an awful format for rebranding/storytelling/marketing.
  - aabhay 6y ago
    This is super interesting. I never thought of search ads from the lens of storytelling, only from the lens of click through. Interesting that a lot of SEO-built brands have no way to even reach customers to repair brand now, since search volume is so down.
    - eitally 6y ago
      I suspect this is one of the reasons advertising on Instagram is going gangbusters. The combo of better targeting + a format that naturally lends itself to storytelling makes for a much more compelling advertising platform.
- sytelus 6y ago
  If I was running travel business, I would be selling 20-50% off coupons set to expire in December, 2022. This does reduce future revenue but will at least normalize the hole today a little bit. I know many people would jump on deals like this.
  - pishpash 6y ago
    I like the idea of futures on everything.
code4tee 6y ago
How does that pair off against the reports that YouTube channels are seeing their ad earnings cut in half as digital ad spend drops? Don’t doubt there are companies going against the tide but seems clear as spend has declined. Clearly an opportunity to get good rates for those looking to spend.
- kenhwang 6y ago
  Google's advertising focuses heavily on ROI/CTR metrics min-maxing and for the most part, well timed and targeted ads. That's not what companies seem to care about right now. Everyone is running feel-good awareness campaigns. If I had to guess, Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/Snapchat will come out of this better than Google would.
lainga 6y ago
On all types of ad units?
tootie 6y ago
Just had a conversation on this in another thread and the consensus was that spend is drying up and ad-based businesses are struggling mightily. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22873272 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22873272
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
streptomycin 6y ago
https://adrevenueindex.ezoic.com/ https://adrevenueindex.ezoic.com/ down like 30-40% year over year. Which matches what I've seen at my sites.
- chrisfrantz 6y ago
  This is a cool resource, thanks for sharing.
dehrmann 6y ago
NBC is cutting back on ad slots[1]. > The ad reductions will occur in news programming, late-night NBC and Bravo shows, reality programming, competition shows like America’s Got Talent and other cable originals. The only reason they're doing this is they don't have enough buyers to fill the slots. Traditional media is great for brand advertising, but it's so hard to show ROI, I can see the wisdom to shifting budget to Facebook and Google. 1: https://www.adweek.com/tv-video/nbcuniversal-will-permanently-reduce-linear-ads-amid-covid-19-crisis/ https://www.adweek.com/tv-video/nbcuniversal-will-permanentl...