YouTube ad boycott set to cost the platform $750m in lost revenue
The advertising boycott affecting video-sharing site YouTube is set to cost the platform $750m in lost revenue, around 7.5% of its annual total, with Q2 and Q3 this year expected to be the hardest hit, according to analysts at equities firm Nomura Instinet. By contrast, parent company Google, whose Q4 2016 revenues were about $26bn, is expected to be largely unaffected. However, the share price of Google-owner Alphabet has fallen 4% since the boycott began to escalate.

The advertising boycott of YouTube has been estimated to cost the video platform US$750 million in lost revenue in 2017, according to analysts at equities firm Nomura Institet.

This equates to about 7.5% of its annual revenue, but only a tiny proportion of Google's overall revenue, which in Q4 2016 alone was around $26 billion.

Google makes a large chunk of its annual revenue through search ($28.5 billion), which has remained unaffected by the boycott.

Nomura Institet's investment note did not assess how much Google's Display Network, which allows websites across the Internet to be served ads by Google, would be impacted.

The note suggests the advertising boycott would hit YouTube hardest in Q2 and Q3 of this year, with the video platform earning $295 million less than the planned $2.46 billion during each period.

Share price drops

Alphabet's stock price has taken a 4% hit since the global boycott escalated from a few companies in the UK to become a global issue over the past fortnight.

On the 17 March, Alphabet's stock closed at $872, which fell to $838.50 at close yesterday. To put this into context, the group's share price was only $685 last June.

Pivotal analyst Brian Wieser has downgraded Alphabet's stock to hold but other analysts have been more cautious.

Where the impact could be most keenly felt is on the negotiating table at this year's YouTube upfronts.

Advertisers are already demanding more premium inventory at a lower cost and are in a stronger position to get better value that in previous years.

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