4 ms·

> Once consolidation shrinks the number of players down to a handful or less, that's when competition and innovation are stifled. Yeah, and ads is the main mec

> Once consolidation shrinks the number of players down to a handful or less, that's when competition and innovation are stifled. Yeah, and ads is the main mechanism why. Ban ads of carbonated drinks, and pepsi/coca cola will become no different from any other manufacturer of that stuff. They do have economy of scale for their advantage, but I don’t think it will help them much. The price/weight ratio of their product is rather low, and technically pipes are way more efficient at moving water than semitrailers. Without marketing, it would make economic sense to produce these drinks locally at smaller scale. An example of similar commodity (in terms of the price/weight ratio) unaffected by ads is concrete. Roughly speaking, there’re 100 coca cola bottling facilities in US, versus 2000 concrete plants.

neom 2y ago
I'm quite curious where you live that you have a low selection of carbonated beverages? Here in Canada I feel like that is the biggest product category for competition these days, used to be frozen meals. Seems every week there is a new soda fridge in my corner store with some new fangled carbonated tea or whatever. We're going through a trade war right now so everyone is buying Canadian, so everyone is buying ad space on the fridges to show their product is Made in Canada.
danaris 2y ago
> Yeah, and ads is the main mechanism why. ...Nnno. Mergers and acquisitions are how you consolidate. It doesn't matter if you show 10 million more ads than your nearest competitor; you're not going to somehow end up owning them unless you buy them out somehow. The laws and regulations surrounding M&A were loosened several decades ago, and that has, very clearly and directly, led to the level of consolidation we have today. The effects of ads and the effects of this on ads are both byproducts.

neom 2y ago

I'm quite curious where you live that you have a low selection of carbonated beverages? Here in Canada I feel like that is the biggest product category for competition these days, used to be frozen meals. Seems every week there is a new soda fridge in my corner store with some new fangled carbonated tea or whatever. We're going through a trade war right now so everyone is buying Canadian, so everyone is buying ad space on the fridges to show their product is Made in Canada.

danaris 2y ago

> Yeah, and ads is the main mechanism why. ...Nnno. Mergers and acquisitions are how you consolidate. It doesn't matter if you show 10 million more ads than your nearest competitor; you're not going to somehow end up owning them unless you buy them out somehow. The laws and regulations surrounding M&A were loosened several decades ago, and that has, very clearly and directly, led to the level of consolidation we have today. The effects of ads and the effects of this on ads are both byproducts.