A new report shows just how dominant Google is in the ad-serving market. Google owns 57 percent of the ad-server market; Microsoft and Yahoo combined have only 15 percent. But in the display-ad arena, a Microsoft-Yahoo merger could compete with Google. Google’s AdSense dominates smaller sites; Google’s DoubleClick leads on larger sites.
Google maintained its search market share in November. The news has given new life to talks of Microsoft making acquisitions to rival Google.Google owns 57 percent of the ad-server market, according to content-tracking firm Attributor’s December 18 report. Microsoft and Yahoo combined have only 15 percent. That means even if Microsoft and Yahoo agree to merge their search-advertising businesses, the combination would not come close to displacing Google on the ad-serving front — at least not in the short term.Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, doesn’t expect to see a significant shakeup in those numbers, either. “I don’t see how Microsoft could immediately catch up,” he said. “Microsoft could acquire some smaller firms, but that wouldn’t do a great deal, and I don’t think Microsoft has an incentive to make smaller acquisitions just to get boosted share in the ad-serving market.”When examining these numbers, analysts said it’s important to bear in mind that the data refers only to ad serving. Display advertising is not included in the analysis. If Microsoft and Yahoo were to do a full merger, the company would be positioned to compete more effectively with Yahoo on the overall advertising front, thanks to Yahoo’s strong position in display advertising. Yahoo has 10.5 percent of the display market, according to comScore, while Google has only 1.5 percent.
Yahoo and Microsoft Lose Ground
“Our analysis of ad server calls across 75 million domains shows that both Yahoo and Microsoft lost significant share compared to our March report and now make up less than 15 percent of the total market,” the Attributor report said.Google gained a marked advantage with the DoubleClick acquisition. DoubleClick led the ad-server pack with 30.7 percent of the market, while Google’s popular AdSense gained 25.8 percent.According to the Attributor report, Google’s AdSense is dominant on smaller sites, while Google-owned DoubleClick leads on larger sites. That said, AdSense made great strides on larger sites, passing up Yahoo and moving into second place. Yahoo has 9.7 percent and Microsoft has 3.8 percent of the market, while AOL posted 6.6 percent.Although Google isn’t seeing a significant threat from Microsoft or Yahoo — or even a so-called Microhoo — the company did witness an explosion of new ad networks burst onto the scene in 2008. Only one, however, broke into Attributor’s top-five list. That company was Revenue Science, which posted 6.7 percent of the market, coming in ahead of both AOL and Microsoft.
Google and DoubleClick Dominate
In other key findings, DoubleClick and AdSense continue to dominate the ad-server market share, capturing 31 percent and 26 percent of unique users, respectively. DoubleClick continues to own the “head,” while AdSense owns the “tail.”For larger sites with more than one million monthly unique users, DoubleClick has a 36 percent share, a nearly three-times share advantage over Yahoo, its nearest non-Google competitor. Together, AdSense and DoubleClick capture 54 percent of this segment.For smaller sites with less than one million monthly unique users, AdSense has a 38 percent share, a more than seven-times share advantage over ValueClick, its nearest competitor. Together, Google and DoubleClick capture 60 percent of this segment.Noteworthy is the fact that share positions for what Attributor has dubbed the “Big 3” — DoubleClick, AdSense and Yahoo — vary widely by vertical. DoubleClick’s share is strongest on automotive sites at 58 percent, whereas AdSense rules blog sites with a 40 percent share. Yahoo is strongest on health sites at 13 percent.
