Media Marketplaces and the Future of Digital Media

Curated marketplaces disrupt larger vertical and horizontal marketplaces by creating a community-like feeling around a given niche. Content creators also create audiences centred around their image or specific interests. And so, isn't it logical that content creators should operate their own curated marketplace? It's a match made in heaven.

After a few decades in which giant aggregators have become the dominant marketplaces while original media companies often seem relatively small, this framework is a reminder that the most successful marketplaces are always media marketplaces.

For a number of years, media and commerce operated in a mutualistic manner. For a time, sites like Amazon, Target, and Walmart needed product demand and digital publishers would provide that demand for a percentage of each sale made. It was a win / win. Media could monetize its traffic in new ways and brands could advertise without upfront costs.

Content, however, is not fungible; it is unique not only to a content-creator but to the medium they use. Marketplaces that become content marketplaces win the market because it is impossible to get their individuated content anywhere else.

Media, today, is a defined as a digital form of entertainment, education, or social connection. If you are in front of a screen, its contents are fighting for your attention. Netflix vs. Slack, Facebook vs. TikTok, Disney+ vs. Fortnite, Animal Crossing vs. Snapchat: the battle for attention is an asymmetrical one. But there is one commonality acros... See more

Media companies found themselves increasingly subject to the whims of the platforms’ algorithms and business models. They replicated a Packaged Goods Media model on top of the platforms, and discovered – shocker! – that they no longer owned the audiences they were trying to sell to marketers. Instead, they had to buy audience from the platforms, an... See more