The state of Advertising in the digital environment

 This blog focuses on discussing and summarising the state of advertising in the digital environment. It’s not the state of advertising that should be questioned it is its role in funding the press generally. It is its use that should be queried. If advertising is used to fund the fourth estate the phrase “freedom of the press” becomes meaningless. If products and businesses are  being funded by advertising and the press is also being funded by the same advertising and therefore influenced by it, there can be no real freedom of the press. Journalism must be biased because of the dual role of advertising. Any funding is going to cause a lack of independence of view. It follows that criticism of the product, the advertising of which is your “bread and butter” cannot be impartial. Otherwise, you are going to lose your funding; so, the only alternative is to move in favour of the product.

Take Google for instance: the fact that a company can bid to ensure that its product has prominence, even though one might be accessing another company's similar product, means that consumers may be influenced towards that particular company’s product through SEO. In addition, the fact that Google encourages companies to vye with one another for better placement tends to increase this influence. This is done through a system of bidding auctions. This is part of Google’s paid-search advertising system.The auction involves thousands of search words which help to achieve the desired result. Hence we can see that even freedom of choice is to a certain extent absent. 

Enormous sums of money are involved in this whole process. For example, from 2002 Google made 2.08 billion dollars in 2 years. What chance do small companies have in this digital age! To emphasise this point “JP Morgan estimated by 2008 Google had a 73% share of search revenues in a $22 billion global search economy”. Obviously this system shifts quite a lot of the power to the advertiser. As we see from these examples the state of advertising has been revolutionised by digital technology.

Apple is an example of this. It gives us a great insight into advertising and today's digital environment.There is very little concern by corporations over Apple and its monopoly. “Apple has cash reserves greater than the GDP of most countries, accrued in part by depriving those countries of taxes, and exploiting their mineral resources.” Apple has also developed a closed ecosystem where, by creating restrictions, the technology only works for them; this allows them to have extensive control in the market. But has Apple been all bad? Apple has sold a lifestyle and created great technology; it also fully understands its audiences and has created a great “Brand community”. 

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Things have changed for advertising in the digital environment.  The concept of audiences is changing. Social media and digital technology play a big role in this change. “the collaborative, iterative, and user-led production of content by participants in a hybrid user-producer, or produser role”.The line between production and consumption is becoming more indistinguishable. Consumers have more control in what happens through ‘Brand community’. Today there is more of a participatory culture and consumers are actively involved. Social media has helped create ‘Brand communities’ where the consumer has more control. This means the consumer can take a policing role. He can take part-ownership of the brand and its rules. Take the toy manufacturer Lego, for example it has created a successful Brand community. Design enthusiasts can submit their ideas to Lego online and if the design gets enough votes, the designer gets a share in the sales. Nike has an app that tracks running achievements, holds goals and collective running classes. It keeps the consumer motivated and makes them feel part of a social group.

From what we have said it is obvious that the overall picture of advertising and technology is very confusing; for example, in some ways there is freedom of choice and in others there is not. In order to progress the situation needs to be unravelled and present more clarity

ROSE, S.

A brief guide to everything that’s annoying about Apple.

Your Bibliography: Rose, S. (2020). A brief guide to everything that’s annoying about Apple. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/apr/27/a-brief-guide-to-everything-thats-annoying-about-apple

ANON

In-text: (Anon, n.d.)

Your Bibliography: Anon, (n.d.). [online] Available at: https://eprints.qut.edu.au/4863/ [Accessed 16

Jenkins, H, Ford, S & Green, J. (2013) Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture, New York University Press.

Turow, J. (2011) : A New Advertising Food Chain. The Daily You: How the New Advertising Industry is Defining Your Identity and Your Worth.