YouTube’s advertiser boycott probably won’t dent Google’s empire

pulse

March 28, 2017 8:32 PM

YouTube's advertiser boycott isn't good news for YouTube, but more of a drop in the bucket to Google's bottom line.

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Big-name advertisers are pulling back from YouTube after an investigation from The Times raised concerns about their ads popping up next to extremist content. More than 250 brands have reportedly frozen their (non-search) ad campaigns with Google, including the likes of AT&T, Verizon, Dish Network, PepsiCo, and others in the US and abroad.

So how much will this cost YouTube? According to analysts at Nomura Instinet, the total revenue loss could reach up to $750 million.

That’s a good chunk of change, but as this chart from Statista shows, it’s peanuts when you’re a company the size of Google. Advertising still makes up the vast majority of the search giant’s revenue; Nomura forecasts it will reach almost $73 billion in 2017. A $750 million loss is never a good thing, but it’s not putting Alphabet, Google’s parent company, out of business.

Still, this is a something of a fiasco for YouTube’s bottom line, and it has given Facebook (its chief rival in online advertising) and companies like AT&T and Verizon (which compete against it in various areas) more leverage in the space. It’s no surprise, then, that Google has responded to the boycott by promising to put its ad policies under greater scrutiny going forward.

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