Stephanie Famolaro, General Manager at The Trade Desk
A pattern has been playing out on the internet for years. Social media platforms often follow a familiar trajectory – first delighting users, then prioritising advertisers, and eventually chasing profits at the expense of both until they lose their relevance and influence.
Here’s how it unfolds: Each new social platform promises connection, creativity, and convenience, enticing consumers with great experiences. As eager advertisers enter, engagement takes a backseat in favour of revenue – more ads, more clutter, more opaque algorithms. Eventually, consumers frustrated by intrusive ads retreat, leaving brands trapped in pay-to-play ecosystems that offer diminishing returns on their advertising spend.
What does this mean for advertisers?
According to GWI data cited by the Financial Times, global time spent on social platforms has dropped by 10 per cent since 2022, a decline led by younger audiences who are tuning out of the algorithm-driven noise. For marketers, this isn’t just a shift in behaviour; it’s a warning sign of diminishing returns. As attention fragments and trust erodes, campaign effectiveness inevitably falls.
To rebuild effectiveness, marketers must shift toward channels where consumers choose to engage, where quality, context, and control can restore both attention and trust.
Big Tech’s Erosion
Social platforms’ erosion has spread across the broader digital ecosystem. Google’s search experience, once a trusted gateway to the web, is now dominated by paid placements, AI summaries, and SEO-saturated content. While these shifts are changing how users discover information, an even greater concern for advertisers lies in Google’s grip across the ad tech supply chain.
A US court recently found that Google’s practice of tying of its publisher ad server (DFP) with its ad exchange (AdX), allowed the company to entrench its dominance across the open-web display market. Evidence presented by the Department of Justice showed that Google controls the majority share of open-web display inventory and directs much of it through AdX, giving it a privileged position that disadvantages competitors.
Those same concerns are now being echoed in Australia, where regulators and publishers have accused Google of using its market power to squeeze both ad prices and access.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s self-preferencing model now stretches across retail search, Prime Video, and its demand-side platform. What began as a closed-loop measurement opportunity now pulls brands into an ecosystem where outcomes are measured by the same party that sells the media.
In short, the problem isn’t just where people spend their time online — it’s who controls the pipes that connect advertisers to audiences. The internet was built to be open, diverse, and decentralised. Yet today, much of its value is locked inside walled gardens that prioritise profit over experience, automation over accountability, and scale over substance.
Stephanie Famolaro argues that the premium open internet offers a way forward
The Premium Open Internet Alternative
But this system isn’t inevitable, and it isn’t the only option. A healthier, more accountable digital economy already exists beyond the walls of Big Tech.
Advertisers are starting to look outward to the premium open internet, where Aussies actually choose what they watch, read, and listen to. It’s the realm of trusted newsrooms, curated streaming platforms, quality podcasts, and well-loved apps — channels built on user choice, not algorithmic compulsion. People arrive with purpose, and when ads appear in these contexts, they resonate.
The numbers tell the story. According to The Untapped Opportunity of Omnichannel research, coordinated campaigns across premium channels are 1.5 times more persuasive, 1.7 times more memorable, and 1.4 times more attention-grabbing than disconnected campaigns.
Yet despite Aussies spending nearly two-thirds of their online time on the open internet, only one-third of ad spend follow them there. The Trade Desk’s report, Not All Time Online Is Equal, calls this out as a “massive missed opportunity.”
Why Brands Must Take Back Control
Savvy advertisers are no longer content to play by Big Tech’s rules. Instead, they’re rewriting them. Leading brands are moving from platform-led execution to outcome-driven ownership. They’re leveraging first-party data to build omnichannel strategies that optimise reach and frequency, and prioritising inventory where context, ad experience, and content quality matter most. And they’re demanding transparent, independent measurement that proves every dollar spent drives real impact.
Consider Metricon and Kellogg’s. Metricon used first-party data across CTV and DOOH to lift showroom visits by 31 percent and qualified leads by 13 percent. Kellogg’s tapped Flybuys data through BVOD to achieve a 187 percent sales spike. These results show what’s possible when advertisers take control of their data, identity, and measurement.
How Brands Can Win
The internet didn’t break overnight, but the consequences are clear. The premium open internet offers a way forward, where advertisers can engage audiences in trusted, meaningful environments, support publishers, and deliver measurable results. By prioritising quality, context, and transparency, brands can create better experiences, fewer interruptions, and a healthier digital ecosystem.
The premium internet isn’t just an alternative; it’s a chance to fix what’s broken and define the next era of digital marketing.