American Press Union Against Google And Facebook

"As soon as President Trump attacks CNN or reprimands the Washington Post, journalists and defenders of freedom of speech stand up to protect the media and the first amendment," writes David Chavern, head of the News Media Alliance which groups 2000 Press, print and web companies, regional and national, in the United States and Canada. "Meanwhile," he continues, "there is a greater threat to the US media industry, which remains largely unmarked: the domination of the Google and Facebook duopoly on online advertising, which could do much more damage to the Freedom of the press than anything the president can say in his Twitter posts. "Paradox of our time, and sling wind in the American media. David Chavern shares the concerns of News Media Alliance in a forum entitled "How the anti-trust law infringes the freedom of the press" on July 9 on the Wall Street Journal.

The duopoly Google and Facebook

According to David Chavern, "70% of the $ 73 billion" spent on online advertising in the US is captured by Google and Facebook. Worse, between 2015 and 2016, online advertising revenues grew by 22%, from 59.6 billion to 72.5, but 99% of these new budgets are monopolized by this duopoly of GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon). "80% of the online traffic referenced comes from Google and Facebook," he writes. "An immensely profitable business," with gains of $ 19 billion and $ 10 billion last year.

However, David Chavern continues, "the two digital giants do not employ journalists. They do not, therefore, bear the extremely costly burden of generating information. "Even if journalism is often irritating to those in power," writes Chavern, "quality information and analysis are essential to any political system that depends on giving citizens facts, so that they can make their own conclusions . "

In an article published the following day, the News Media Alliance states: "Because of this duopoly, publishers are forced to abandon their content and play according to their rules on how news and information must be presented, prioritized and monetized. These rules have standardized the news and left room for fake news, which can often no longer be differentiated from the real news. "

For an easing of anti-trust laws

To counter this "inexorable threat," writes David Chavern, "press editors should be able to bind themselves," to negotiate with Google and Facebook - to better protect intellectual property, to offer better support for subscription models and a fair share of Data revenues - they could build a sustainable future for the media business. But in the United States, the anti-trust laws of 1890 and 1914, whose role is to avoid any economic concentration, prevent the media from joining forces, which would amount to an agreement between companies of one Same sector.

The News Media Alliance therefore proposes a relaxation of this anti-trust law by new legislation giving the possibility to "press publishers to bargain collectively with dominant online platforms. "

In Europe, the offensive is already underway

In Europe, in early July, about a hundred media, as well as the SFR and Fnac Darty groups announced that they intended to share their advertising data, thanks to an alliance called Gravity. As of the end of 2017, advertisers will have access to a one-stop shop to purchase advertising space on the various sites of groups such as Lagardère Active, Next Radio TV, Les Echos-Le Parisien, regional press groups ... It is not a matter of merging advertising agencies, but of being more effective on "programmatic advertising", a form of online advertising that works through algorithms and a bidding system. An advertisement that, according to AFP, already accounted for 53% of digital sales in 2016.