Monday, February 25, 2002

Disintermediation Marches On

Interesting piece by Tig Tillighast in ClickZ about some of the possible effects of Google's new do-it-yourself, cost-per-click advertising:

The implications are huge. In traditional media, the brunt of spending is done by small companies in media such as newspapers and local radio. We tend not to talk much about that kind of stuff in marketing circles, because we have a bias against small advertisers and because online media haven't been transactionally efficient enough to bother with them. But, by opening the door to small advertisers, Google may be multiplying available marketing dollars for everyone online.

. . . and,

Another interesting aspect will be the implications these systems have on people who buy and sell ads. One could argue that with this type of system (especially if it spans multiple sites), the need for a lot of the work an agency does would become moot. Likewise, the sales force might become superfluous to all but the very largest and vainest accounts.

Will this leave those big, vain accounts more isolated and irrelevant? It's nice to contemplate.

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