In this segment, Matt Britton weighs in on whether traditional newspaper companies should band together to challenge Google and Facebook’s dominance in digital advertising.

The core issue: publishers are exploring collective action to negotiate against what many describe as a digital duopoly. Matt’s response is measured but direct.

Yes, Google and Facebook command enormous influence online. But globally, they still account for roughly 20% of total advertising spend. That means 80% of the market remains outside their control. Traditional media companies are not operating in a vacuum. On a global basis, newspaper circulation revenue still totals roughly $150 billion annually, compared to about $100 billion combined for Google and Facebook at the time of discussion.

Matt’s argument is that the structural challenge facing newspapers is not purely about market power. It is about business model inertia.

While U.S. newspaper advertising revenue has fallen dramatically over the past decade, digital ad revenue for newspapers has largely stagnated. Simply moving content online and selling banner ads proved insufficient because digital advertising became commoditized. In a space where impressions are abundant and targeting is precise, standard display ads carry lower value.

Matt contends that modern brands do not want interruption-based advertising. They want content that consumers actively seek. That explains the rise of companies like BuzzFeed and Vice, which leaned into content-native models early. Instead of fighting platforms, they adapted to them.

He also challenges legacy cost structures. Traditional newsrooms were built for print scale, including in-house photographers and large staffing footprints. In a digital ecosystem where imagery and footage can be sourced instantly from social platforms, he questions whether every legacy function must remain intact. His view: true reinvention may require rethinking operational overhead, not just negotiating harder with tech giants.

However, a counterpoint raised in the discussion highlights growing consumer demand for trusted brands and quality journalism, particularly amid misinformation concerns. Matt acknowledges that brand identity and credibility remain valuable assets for publishers. The challenge is monetizing that trust effectively in a digital environment dominated by scale, data, and performance targeting.

The broader takeaway: blaming platform concentration oversimplifies the issue. The deeper challenge for newspapers is structural transformation. Sustainable success will likely require reimagining both revenue models and cost structures rather than relying solely on regulatory or collective negotiation strategies.

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