So, it’s 2021 and time to get your techno news out on the web. The days of relying on print and broadcast media are gone for good.

In fact, if the web came along, then many of those once-dominant media companies would have lost their stranglehold in, not only their own country, but throughout the world. So, it’s time to make the move and embrace the new media landscape that is ripe with opportunity.

But what kind of opportunities does the web present to media organisations in Australia? It certainly offers a plethora of possibilities. As online advertising revenue has increased and online audience size has grown, so to has the need for in-depth analysis and comprehensive reporting from any and all sources.

It used to be that the major news media businesses in Australia could command around 95% of the available online advertising revenue, but that number has certainly been closed to a number of them over the years.

The emergence of online advertising revenue has opened up a wealth of opportunities for the major news media companies in Australia. They now sit at a position where they can potentially make a killing off of ad revenue generated by content posted on their websites.

The biggest of these giant tech giants – namely Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Australia’s largest ISP, Telstra – have already started flexing their muscle in this regard, having invested substantial amounts in online advertising revenue-generation companies such as Google AdSense and Adbrite.

Perhaps the most significant of these giants’ moves towards online advertising revenue generation is their attempts to set the table for an orderly and competitive marketplace where they can collectively pool in online advertising revenue and win a bigger share of the market.

This is something that the smaller tech companies in Australia could not do. As it stands presently, there is no real mechanism for these smaller companies to go ahead and challenge the dominance of the giant tech companies.

Only the larger players have the ability to do this. They have the money to fund the huge research and development budgets required to ensure that they maintain a technological advantage over their smaller and lesser regional competitors.

But while there are definitely opportunities for the smaller players to go ahead and challenge the dominance of the giant tech companies, one should never forget the need for the giant players to stay on top of the game.

After all, they currently hold the lion’s share of the available advertising market – and they will continue to control a large chunk of it for as long as they can.

But for all its advantages, one thing that Australia has not been able to forget is its competitive edge – and that is the fact that the country has been the home of some of the biggest names in the industry.

This includes names such as telecommunications giant Telcos, internet company iiNet and media outlets such as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Google and Meta account for 70% of digital advertising and should pay a levy to fund traditional media, according to a new report on media concentration led by researchers from several Australian universities.

The communications, media and internet concentration in Australia report, which tracked the country between 2019 and 2022, found it has the second-highest media concentration in the world. Its newspaper sector alone is dominated by four companies who control 84% of the market.

The international study examined the economic dominance of key players in 15 markets across the world. Only Brazil had a higher media concentration than Australia.

News Corp, Nine Entertainment, Seven West Media and Australian Community Media have increased their share, which was 78% in 2019, due to mergers and acquisitions such as Nine buying Fairfax Media in 2018.

Prof Terry Flew and Dr Rob Nicholls from the University of Sydney’s media and communications department say funds from a levy on digital advertising could be invested in journalism.

“A public interest journalism levy, at a rate of about 2%, would generate funds equivalent to or possibly slightly higher than the payments being made under the news media bargaining code,” Flew said.

The proposal of a mechanism to slow down the demise of the newspaper sector echoes comments by Anthony Albanese in August that social media companies shouldn’t “essentially ride free” on the backs of traditional media.

The prime minister was responding to questions about the possibility of a levy after Meta’s decision to not renew media funding deals.

Flew said a levy would be on advertising revenues derived independently of content, and would include News Corp and Nine’s classified advertising of real estate and cars.

The Global Media & Internet Concentration Project’s analysis of the media, telco and internet markets found that Google and Meta dominated internet advertising and were the second and eighth largest communication and media enterprises operating in Australia.

The study defined media enterprises as any company involved in the communication process.

It warned the increase in concentration – due to the rapid ascent of the global tech companies and the deregulation of media markets – poses a major threat to local journalism.

As audiences desert traditional media for global platforms, the study noted, the ability to regulate for accuracy in news, TV and radio is compromised.

“Collating and analysing publicly available revenue and consumer data, we find that from 2019 to 2022, the majority of Australia’s media, internet and communication markets are moderately to highly concentrated,” the report said.

“These results reflect a long history of media concentration in Australia and a continuing trend seen in many developed economies abroad.”

If Australia wants to maintain its position as one of the top advertising agencies in the world, it needs to make sure that it develops a robust digital marketing strategy that focuses on maintaining its positioning in the world top 10.

As noted earlier, Australia has enjoyed a strong economic growth over the past decade and the past few years have also seen a significant spike in the number of people starting a business of their own.

However, as businesses expand their market share in the physical world, they have to deal with other players that are rapidly coming up and establishing their place on the digital world.

This is why companies such as the ABC have developed a bargaining code, which it operates under to ensure that it remains a viable business entity in the medium to long term.

The current competition within the media industry, for example from digital network services and online video and podcasting services is forcing the ABC to look to streamline its operations and adopt a more nimble, flexible and responsive approach to marketing.

By doing so, it ensures its survival in the digital world and allows it to continue to serve customers who prefer to interact directly with an actual human being over the Internet.

The current economic climate in Australia is quite uncertain and experts are predicting a recession in the economy. However, if the current problems with the banking sector are any indicator, then the recovery is on its way.

For all the negative news that the media business endures, it still continues to be one of the most powerful brands in the world. With a strong reputation and a stable base of distribution and sales, this Australian company will likely be around for a while yet.