MAM
Yahoo!!, Google erode ad dollars from traditional media houses
MUMBAI: The 10 largest information companies seem to be feeling the some heavy duty revenue heat. Here’s how… According to a report put out by research and advisory firm ‘Outsell’, the astounding revenue growth registered by both search engine majors Google and Yahoo!! is coming at the expense of the 10 largest information companies in what is a $263 billion industry.
The poignant question here is with the explosion of spending on search engine advertising continues to alter the marketing scape; have there been any ramifications for traditional information entities?
Without doubt, search advertising has taken off in a big way which has in turn seen traditional informative publications normal advertising revenues dip as funds have been diverted to Google and Yahoo!. A widely used quote from Outsell’s report gives a fair idea of the search engine advertising affect in a rather candid manner: “they’re [Google and Yahoo!] literally sucking the financial air out of the room.”
The ten information companies that have been referred to are – Daily Mail & General Trust, Gannett, McGraw-Hill, Pearson, Reed Elsevier, Reuters, Thompson, Tribune, VNU, and Wolters Kluwer.
Apparently, money that has originally been set aside for traditionally advertising with these companies has been diverted to be used for search advertising. Outsell reports that the 10-member group generated a combined revenue of $60 billion in 2004, which is $4 billion more than the previous year. Google and Yahoo! alone generated $6.5 billion in 2004, which also indicates a year-over-year increase of $4 billion.
The extraordinary growth of Google and Yahoo! has been attributed to the marketing and advertising spending that would have gone to the other 10 companies, particularly newspapers and B2B trade magazine. The reason partially for the shift is due to the fact that marketers are paying too much for print ads or too little for online ones, according to Outsell.
This puts the traditional media companies into a tough mode in terms of garnering ad dollars. Many newspapers get more than half their revenues from classified, which are really susceptible to the type of ads that Google and Yahoo! are offering.
Also, another important point in note being the ROI efficiency that are generated by search related advertising which draw more advertising dollars, reducing the overall amount that is allocated towards traditional ad methods like yellow page listings and print ads.
This new trend may not essentially spell doom for traditional media outlets. Although, what it does point out is that search engine marketing has gone mainstream. Another possibility that might emerge is that marketers might demand a more cost effective pricing from traditional media houses as they have already experienced marketers that have experienced the low cost per click (CPC) with search advertising.
Nevertheless, with businesses discovering how lucrative search engine marketing programs can be, traditional outlets have already started looking for ways to get back in the game.
MAM
How beverage brands are rethinking marketing strategies for weather-led demand
SLMG Beverages Private Limited joint managing director Paritosh Ladhani.
MUMBAI: As Sun climbs up the hemisphere, summer has clearly arrived in India. On 7th March 2026 Delhi registered a maximum temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius which is the highest reading logged for the first week of March in the last 50 years. Climate Change has been prolonging summers by causing earlier spring warming, delayed autumn cooling, and more frequent, intense heatwaves that persist for much longer periods.
In an endeavor to stay ahead of the curve, Beverage Brands are shifting from fixed seasonal marketing tactics to weather responsive strategies backed by data-driven insights, flexible campaigns, and diversified portfolios to capitalize on unruly temperature spike. In 2025, India’s beverage market experienced a massive, heat-triggered surge with carbonated drinks and ice cream volumes spiking 20–25 per cent in the March quarter itself on the back of hottest February in 125 years.
Clearly campaign timelines are being advanced to reap the seasonal shift in line with the jumping mercury. In the Indian context where Cricket is nothing short of religion, big ticket tournaments like T20 World Cup, Indian Premier League, ICC Champions Trophy provide plethora of opportunities to calibrate marketing campaign designs and associated business strategies to associate refreshment with community viewing both outdoor and indoors. A new trend that has taken the world by storm is that of booking the theatres for bonhomie viewing. It has also opened avenues for joint marketing initiatives by the Multiplex and Beverage Brands.
Price disrupting small potions and value packs tend to drive significantly higher volumes owing to volumetric flexibility and affordability to the consumers. Ramping up of cold supply chains for transit and at point of sales (POS) are strategic business imperatives that again define success of beverage brands.
In the era of AI and Big Data it is easy to track and calibrate messaging based on daily or weekly weather changes. Geo-targeted digital advertisement campaigns are also being run during heatwaves to make the business and marketing imperative very contextual. These pre-emptive strategies fueled by real time data and technology immensely help beverage brands to adjust supplies to the areas that are likely to generate more demand.
Novelty brings premium to the FMCG Sector and Beverage Brands are no exception. Newer SKUs build up excitement in consumers besides imparting the scope of frequent revitalization of brand marketing campaigns. Ensuring continuum of supply chain across material suppliers, logistics providers, distributors/wholesalers, and retailers become a strategic business strategy imperative for beverage brands during peak season.
Carbonated drinks among other beverages including packaged mineral water sell like hotcakes in summers, a period where holiday season gives big impetus to sales volumes. Tying up with air carriers railways, amusement parks, malls, convention centers for inclusion in the onboard beverage deck also holds a big window of opportunity for brands.
Limited period diversification into special summer categories entailing juices and functional beverages to capture the broader hydration market is also a business cum marketing imperative that beverage brands eye on. This also brings to fore the responsible side of the brand placing the compass on wellness of consumers.
Seasons are cyclic, hence summers are inevitable. Further, due to anthropogenic climate change, summers surely have been staging prolonged appearance that keep bringing beverage brands on to their drawing boards frequently for strategizing business and marketing campaigns that are agile, refreshment-focused, visually dominant in retail, affordable, and optimally promoted through seasonal campaigns in above and below the line media.
