9 spots left:
Join us Dec. 1-3 in Nashville for the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit
The Barbarian Group COO Rick Webb has some tough words for Silicon Valley. He has little time for those arguing there isn’t a bubble right now in tech company valuations, zeroing in on those that have ad-dependent business models. For all that Silicon Valley companies lament the lack of tech savvy in the advertising, the opposite is clearly true. Webb makes that point clear:
Brands don’t actually want or need any more media channels. As far as they’re concerned, the internet can stop now. We have enough channels. We were happy when we had like seven (TV, print, outdoor, radio, in-store, direct and theater), got a little interested in the first few new ones. Urinals? Uh, okay. Banners? Interesting. Google? Yes. Groupon, Farmville, GroupMe? OKAY I AM GETTING TIRED NOW. Silicon Valley seems to think that advertising’s appetite for new media channels is unending. It is not.
Read more on The Barbarian Group blog. For a counterpoint, see angel investor Chris Dixon and venture capitalist Brad Feld.
More in Media
TwitchCon is at a crossroads as creators question its value
November 12, 2026
Ahead of TwitchCon 2026, brands and creators weigh in on if the platform’s big IRL event is worth the cost and potential safety issues.
How a sports betting creator drove 200 million short-form views of his podcast
November 11, 2026
Zach “Mystic Zach” Hirsch has figured out how to maximize engagement around sports-betting content while staying brand safe.
As publishers await click data, Google’s AI visibility push complicates the opt-out decision
November 9, 2026
Google is moving on two fronts: working up the U.K’s Competition and Markets Authority-mandated search opt-out publishers have long sought, while enhancing AI Overviews in ways that could make opting out less appealing.