The distribution channels that underpinned the rise of today’s Internet giants have dried up. Google, Facebook, and Amazon serve as a triopoly that dominates online advertising. The three accounted for 90% of US digital advertising in 2020, up from 80% in 2019. The arbitrage that once existed on these platforms has more or less disappeared and CPMs... See more

Super-AggregatorsWhat makes Facebook and Google unique is that not only do they have zero transaction costs when it comes to serving end users, they also have zero transaction costs when it comes to both suppliers and advertisers.Start with supply: not only is the vast majority of online content accessible to Google’s search engine (unsurprisingly,... See more

Ezra Klein asks: what comes first? the design of the internet, or what advertising needs on the internet? Tim Hwang think there is a deep path dependence in funding of platform companies. We have religious faith that if you aggregate a lot of attention online you will become the next Google/Facebook. We don't have a lot of examples of subscription

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