Only six seats remaining
Secure your place at the Digiday Media Buying Summit in Nashville, March 2-4
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.
Trending in
Most Read
More in Media
Media Briefing: Publishers explore selling AI visibility know-how to brands
February 19, 2026
Publishers are seeing an opportunity to sell their AI citation playbooks as a product to brand clients, to monetize their GEO insights.
Creators eye Snapchat as a reliable income alternative to TikTok and YouTube
February 18, 2026
Figuring out the Snapchat formula has been very lucrative for creators looking for more consistent revenue on a less-saturated platform.
In Graphic Detail: Subscriptions are rising at big news publishers – even as traffic shrinks
February 17, 2026
Publishers are raising prices, pushing bundles and prioritizing retention to make subscriptions a steady business amid volatile traffic.