Confessions of a media buyer on Google’s stranglehold on the industry

The Google anti-trust trial will come to an end in late November, and there’s a lull in the action now that the testimony wrapped up on both sides weeks ago.

But the fact is, whether Google gets broken up or not — and there are strong feelings in both directions about what that could mean — the company has had an inexorable impact on the media agency world, as well as on marketers. It’s got so much of the industry working through its various tendrils, there’s no escaping it. And some would argue that agencies and marketers have been complicit in letting this happen because they get the results they need, even without much choice. It’s almost like the scene in “Casablanca” when Rick’s place is raided for gambling and the “usual suspects” are rounded up.

What’s that effect been like? Digiday spoke with a high-level executive at a media agency on condition of anonymity in order to get an unvarnished opinion on Google’s pervasive presence across the industry.

The following interview has been edited for space and clarity.

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