For the last 20 years, marketers have been pouring more and more money into digital advertising. In fact, the most recent IAB report showed that $125 billion was spent in digital in the U.S. in 2019 and about $350 billion worldwide. That’s a lot of money. But is it money well spent? Of course there is value in digital marketing; and digital can do things that other marketing channels simply cannot. But are marketers spending too much in buying “shiny digital objects” from snakeoil — oops “adtech” — salesmen? Let’s have a think-see shall we?
The Myth of the Long Tail
Quick. Name 10 websites that you use EVERY day. Now, as fast as you can, name 10 mobile apps you use EVERY day. How many did you get to? 7 or 8? Did you even reach ten? Well, you’re not alone. Over the years, comScore and other consumer research firms have corroborated that most humans use a finite, and small, number of websites and mobile apps regularly, every day. They may visit “long tail” websites once in a while, but they don’t go back repeatedly in large quantities…
