The relocation of advertising investments, an emergency in the face of the Internet giants – Media

A study carried out for Les Relocaliseurs*, by UNO Études & Conseil and AixEco, with economists Bruno Coquet and Éric Heyer, reveals that the global advertising market lost 40% of its value in ten years at the start of the 2000s. The “Giants du Net” designated by the acronym GN – Alphabet (Google), Meta (Facebook) and Amazon – dominate it today with more than 40% of advertising revenue worldwide. In France, as in most industrialized countries, this domination has destabilized the advertising sector, impacting employment and calling into question the survival of traditional media.

The weakened French economy

This massive transfer to digital did not stimulate the national market: despite an increase in digital advertising revenue, overall advertising revenue continued to grow less quickly than GDP until the mid-2010s, before stabilizing . The French advertising market represented 1% of GDP in 2000, its weight has now been reduced to 0.61% of GDP in 2024well below the levels reached globally (0.81% in 2023). At the same time, the digital economic model of GNs is based on distortions of competition and large-scale industrialized tax optimization which result in advertising activities producing no or very little added value (and profits) in the countries of residence. advertisers and consumers.

Regulate to relocate advertising investments

The study explores five economic scenarios, from the rise of GNs to strategies aimed at relocalizing advertising investments. In an analytical scenario, where traditional media would regain 1 billion euros in advertising revenue at the expense of the GN, GDP would increase by 760 million euros, and 12,400 jobs would be created, including 8,800 in the advertising sector. On the other hand, in a continuity scenario, which extends the current trend until 2030, GDP would fall by 263 million euros and 1,200 jobs in the advertising sector alone would be lost, highlighting the recessive effects of an absence regulation. “Faced with the urgency of preserving the French economy and media, the relocation of advertising investments appears to be an essential lever to restore a balanced market, which would consequently support growth and employment while helping to guarantee the diversity of information,” recalls the association.

* Les Relocalisseurs is an association under the 1901 law whose members are CoSpirit Groupe, FranceTV Publicité, JCDecaux, 366, Radio France Publicité, Cityzmedia, CMI Media, Mediaposte, Dentsu France, Publicis Media, RMC BFM ADS, France Pub and NRJ Global et Région .