Jamie MacEwan, senior media analyst at Enders Analysis, agreed: “It does look odd on the surface that Google would take this long to reassure the CMA on down-ranking.” But, he said, that could be because Google doesn’t want to close down its options on the way it rates the quality of a website — and those factors often have nothing to do with advertising. “Since some of the APIs cover user protections like fighting spam and fraud, Google might be concerned that, should Sandbox be the sole alternative to cookies in some cases, giving up down-ranking powers could be a problem down the line,” he said.
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“It’s almost a victim of its own success,” says Enders Analysis senior media analyst Jamie MacEwan. “It’s always there in the background. And you don’t think, you just type in YouTube and you find whatever you need.”
That ubiquity is obvious in the numbers. Upwards of 2.5bn people worldwide use YouTube each month, and US users spend around 45 minutes on the service on average every day. “When you’re looking at social media platforms, YouTube’s got that unparalleled reach and time spent viewing,” says MacEwan.
But for those actually creating new content for YouTube, the shift to shorts has been disruptive and often painful. “It’s been tough, as YouTube shorts are definitely less monetizable at the moment,” says MacEwan. “It’s got so many products, and with creators you’re trying to convince them to do many different formats.”
But while competing in web-based, ultra-short form is clearly a priority for YouTube, it’s also doing pretty well going the other way. “A huge chunk of YouTube’s business and the revenue it is generating is from sitting on the TV screen alongside Netflix or broadcasters,” says MacEwan. “The latest figures from Nielsen show that YouTube was getting about 10% of US TV viewing, which is more than Netflix.”
Niamh Burns, a senior analyst at Enders Analysis, says there will be a stream of new products as companies, backed by multibillion-dollar investments, try to win over consumers. “We’re going to keep seeing these flashy releases, because the tech is new and exciting, and because the actual consumer use case hasn’t been landed on. New models and even just new interfaces – simply put, things to do with the models – need to be released until something sticks from a user perspective,” she says.
“Any commentary on advertising by EA ultimately remains a reflection of its desire to be acquired by another major media and entertainment company, specifically by demonstrating its flexibility in generating revenue from a passionate fanbase,” said Gareth Sutcliffe, the head analyst covering the games industry for market research service Enders Analysis. “While any advertising option is unlikely to provide a material uptick in revenue, EA’s audience remains valuable and it assists in its positioning as a full-stack operation across all development platforms and nearly every conceivable revenue model.”
Karen Egan, of Enders Analysis, branded Ms Kirkby’s first moves “very confident”. She added that the proposals were “clearly designed to bring home the message that this expensive fibre spend is a temporary phenomenon only”.
Karen Egan was quoted in The Times on BT boss Allison Kirkby says group has reached ‘inflection point’
16 May 2024Karen Egan, head of telecoms at Enders Analysis, said: “The improving outlook is an important part of the investment case for BT and the punchy cashflow guidance is clearly designed to bring that message home.”
Karen Egan, head of telecoms at Enders Analysis, said the decision to increase the dividend and clearly define cash flow expectations helped to “shore up confidence” in the cash flow recovery and “assuage the doubters”.
Taking it into cinemas is an "interesting" step, says Joseph Teasdale, an analyst at media research firm Enders Analysis.
"Podcasts continue to grow, in terms of popularity, and now we're seeing these new innovations - first you had the live streams, and now they're coming to cinemas too," he told BBC News.
Alice Enders, a media analyst, said this was unlike most owners of British newspapers, who are motivated by raw power and wealth: “Rupert Murdoch is in thrall to the religion of capitalism, and I would assume that to be true of others too.”