Apple, Google owner Alphabet and Microsoft raked in combined profits of neqrly $5bn a week during the second quarter of 2021, with Facebook and Amazon due to report later this week.
“Digital advertising is just on fire” said one fund manager as three of Big Tech’s biggest beasts produced results 30% higher than predicted.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (below) said: “Five per cent of world GDP is tech spending, it’s projected to double — the doubling is going to happen at an accelerated rate.”
Such companies literally make more money than they know what to do with, although this doesn’t encourage an appetite for paying tax. The vast and mushrooming profits will result in more calls for a minimum global tax rate (inching ahead although the tech giants’ armies of lawyers are probably ahead of the game already), even a windfall tax and break-up of some companies. Maybe the latter is US president Joe Biden’s biggest challenge.
For the ad business the consequences are clear. Become a hand-maiden to such companies, like S4 Capital and You & Mr Jones, or hope against hope that you bag one of them as a free-spending, traditional media advertiser. At this rate they’ll soon be the only ones with any serious money.