Internet Publishing, Broadcasting & Search Portals Industry Overview

Excerpt from Internet Publishing, Broadcasting & Search Portals Report

The Internet publishing, broadcasting and search portal industry includes about 3,200 companies with combined annual revenue of about $40 billion. Major companies include Google, IAC, and Yahoo!. The industry is highly concentrated: the top 50 companies account for about 80 percent of revenue.

Competitive Landscape

Demand is driven by consumer and business needs for information and entertainment. The profitability of individual companies depends on their ability to deliver relevant information to consumers and to offer advertisers desirable target markets. Large companies enjoy economies of scale in marketing and in their ability to develop and maintain multiple websites. Smaller companies can compete by focusing on niche markets. The industry is capital-intensive: average annual revenue per employee is about $450,000.

Products, Operations & Technology

Major products are search portals and websites devoted to news, sports, entertainment, gaming, networking, and other topics. Advertising is the primary source of revenue. Other sources of revenue include subscriptions and licensing of proprietary products to other sites.