Google and Facebook will take more than 70% of all money spent on display advertising online in the UK by 2020, according to a report suggesting the firms will soon have an effective duopoly spanning the Atlantic.
The two companies already account for about three-quarters of the £18.4bn display ad market in the US, and 53% of the £4bn currently spent in the UK.
That growing dominance has put pressure on publishers such as newspapers, most of which have found it difficult to make money from large online audiences as print sales and advertising have fallen rapidly. Google also dominates search advertising, which has largely replaced the classified ads which previously generated significant revenue for newspapers.