Opinion: Breaking Up Google Would Hurt Bloggers Like Me

In late November, the Department of Justice (DOJ) wrapped up its arguments in the Google “ad tech” trial, and I’m worried. DOJ officials really don’t seem to understand how the digital ads ecosystem works, how valuable Google’s advertising tools are to small businesses like mine, or how harmful a Google breakup — which they’re advocating — would be for small businesses. I wish they had a better grasp of the situation and what’s at stake.

For the past 12 years, I’ve published a blog featuring kitchen-tested, modern takes on classic Southern recipes. I grew up in a family of great home-cooks, and some of my happiest memories are of helping my mom and grandmother in the kitchen. I love knowing that my recipes — many of which were passed down through my family — are helping another generation make memories with their families.

When I started my blog, I made money through sponsored content; companies like KitchenAid or King Arthur Baking Company would pay me to feature their tools or ingredients. That  generated revenue, but it meant I spent most of my time in meetings and negotiations instead of creating and testing recipes. When I learned that digital advertising offered an alternative “low-maintenance” source of income, I jumped at the opportunity. It was easy to get set up with Google, start selling ad space on my blog, and start earning revenue to sustain it and keep it free to my 600,000 readers.

The digital ads I run alongside my blog’s content are called display ads. But the DOJ has sued Google over its display-ads business, and it’s saying the company should be broken up. If that happens, it will be much harder to sell ad space and earn the revenue I need to keep my blog running.

The DOJ says Google is abusing its position in the digital display-ads market to raise prices and hurt advertisers and content creators like me. That argument doesn’t make sense. Google keeps about 20 percent of the revenue from every ad I sell. Considering that it acts as my advertising-sales, -negotiation, -data analysis, and -technology teams, I think that’s a pretty good deal.   

The DOJ also claims that because Google serves both advertisers and content creators, it’s not serving either one fairly. But Google’s role on both sides of the market makes its system really efficient — and that makes it valuable to businesses, websites, and bloggers like me. Google’s technology instantly finds the right advertisers and ensures the right ads show up on my blog. It even shows different people different ads for things they’re interested in. That’s a triple win. Businesses get to show their ads to likely buyers; people get ads for things they may want; and bloggers like me generate revenue to keep improving our content and offering it to readers for free.

If the government breaks up Google, it would jeopardize my livelihood. I might have to work with multiple ad partners, which would take more of my time or require me to hire new employees. Or I might have to hire a team of salespeople to call businesses and convince them to spend money advertising on my site. Also, without Google’s position as a reliable connection between advertisers and creators — and without the data Google provides to power effective digital advertising — businesses may be less inclined to spend money advertising on sites like mine. I don’t want to return to sponsored content, and subscriptions or paywalls won’t generate enough revenue for me to stay in business.

I’ll say it again: The DOJ’s suit doesn’t make sense — and its proposed “remedy” would punish folks like me. I know Google isn’t perfect, but it’s built an efficient, easy-to-use advertising system that helps millions of businesses, websites, and blogs succeed and keeps much of the internet’s content freely available. Why break a system that brings so much to so many?

LaKita Anderson is the founder and creator of Simply LaKita, based in Panama City Beach, Fla.