"For a while the king sat silent. At last he spoke. ‘So we come to it in the end,’ he said: ‘the great battle of our time, in which many things shall pass away. But at least there is no longer need for hiding. We will ride the straight way and the open road and with all our speed. The muster shall begin at once, and wait for none that tarry. Have you good store in Minas Tirith? For if we must ride now in all haste, then we must ride light, with but meal and water enough to last us into battle.’
‘We have very great store long prepared,’ answered Hirgon. ‘Ride now as light and as swift as you may!’
‘Then call the heralds, Éomer,’ said Théoden. ‘Let the Riders be marshalled!’
From " The Return of the King, by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
It’s alleged that the Internet is “here to stay”. It is constantly foisted upon us that “it’s just part of life, now.” Yet some people don’t use the Internet. At all, ever.
November 5, 2019 - A new ITU report reveals that over half the total global female population is still not using the internet.
Over half! That means “not a majority.” For those deep in the trance, it’s impossible to conceive.
And it looks like many more are going to give it up this year. As you’ll read in an article that I’ve appended below, headlined “Internet in decline beyond Google and Facebook”.
It reads “Total internet advertising spend – including desktop, mobile, and tablet – will decline by 7.2% this year, if you take the Google and Facebook ‘duopoly’ out of the equation . Even if Google’s Traffic Acquisition Costs (TACs) – money paid to Google Network Members for hosting Google ads – are accounted for, internet spend beyond the duopoly is expected to dip by 0.7% in 2019.”
Now, if you believe that Google grew to be the most successful manufacturer of Terminator robots on Earth by selling ad space in the margins of web pages, there’s a bridge for sale here in Brooklyn that I think it might profit you to look at.
Google is quite clearly a branch of the Government. Someone on Don’s old forum once said “Google is the NSA’s clown name.”
I’m the person who reminds everyone that Google formally dropped their " Don’t be evil " mottoDespite their obvious commitment to being evil, they can’t completely hide what’s going on:
October 28, 2019 - Google, in Rare Stumble , Posts 23% Decline in Profit
Facebook, a separate sub-department within the Ministry of Truth, is also collapsing like the confidence game that it is.
That’s why a current article that I’ve appended below is headlined " Facebook cancels global marketing summit because of COVID-19 concerns ."
Ah, Government-made designer virii, is there anything they can’t do? They’ve geeked-out by saying COVID-19 , instead of “coronavirus” to put a flashy, mesmerizing spin on a failing propaganda meme. Did you notice that they named it after the eclipsing Black sun that they’ve worshipped all the way back to Babylon, and before? And used one of their most-sacred numbers, 19?
FB cancelled the big meeting because they’ve lost tens of millions of users over the past couple years, and soon aren’t going to be able to prop up the charade that they’re not a barely-closeted intelligence agency.
I think the 7.2% drop is probably accurate. It’s a drop in ad spend, which means there’s been a similarly-sized drop in people buying stuff online. All manner of stuff that you can possibly imagine.
One in ten saying “I’m going to buy that object another way.” Or “I’m going to get that service for myself in a different way.” That’s not hard for me to imagine. It is, rather, humanity taking a healthy step after taking numerous unhealthy ones. The innocent having been cruelly led astray, including myself.
But who am I kidding. I knew sitting too close to the TV was wrong when I was a kid, even as I was doing it.
“Combined, the duopoly’s share of the global online ad market is expected to rise to 61.4% (up from 56.4% in 2018), with combined ad income forecast to reach $176.4 billion – an increase of 22% .”
What this shows is the Government agencies having to pump 22% more black budget money into the equation to prop up the failing Ponzi scheme, the failing Confidence game that is the Internet. Whose total cost of use exceeds its benefit.
Why, just ask anyone:
“A growing number of U.S. adults no longer view the internet as a largely “good thing” for society, according to a new report from Pew Research Center out today. To be clear, a sizable majority – 70 percent – continue to believe the internet’s development has been mostly good. But that number has dropped by 6 percentage points since 2014 .”
If the approval rating of your business dropped 6% in five years, you’d know you were going out of business.
Prices drop when demand decreases, supply increases, or both:
September 17, 2019 - Canadian internet rates are falling, and you can thank the CRTC
Here, you can tell it’s “dropping demand” because of the bullshit plausible-deniability excuse they used.
Regular internet users in Ukraine fell 2% in the 3rd Quarter of 2018, year over year. That would mean an 8% drop in a year, if that rate held steady. Those are going out of business numbers.
July 25 2019 - China smartphone user number starts to decline
Every quarter, QuestMobile, a research firm focused on mobile internet, issues a new report on the developments of the sector.
In the latest instalment, released this month, QuestMobile revealed something unprecedented: China’s active mobile internet user number has peaked and started to decline .
According to the following graph, the number of monthly active mobile internet users peaked at 1.138 billion in February and March. It has since declined to 1.136 billion by June.
The “Internet” is a confidence game, a swindle in which it is falsely suggested that the cost/benefit on using it comes out on the side of the positive.
You may rejoice in that we have just passed the point where the rubes have gotten wise to what I’m saying.
Jeff Miller, Brooklyn, New York, February 28, 2020
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April 30, 2018 - Majority of U.S. adults still think the internet is ‘mostly’ good for society – but that number is falling
A growing number of U.S. adults no longer view the internet as a largely “good thing” for society, according to a new report from Pew Research Center out today. To be clear, a sizable majority – 70 percent – continue to believe the internet’s development has been mostly good. But that number has dropped by 6 percentage points since 2014 , the study finds. Meanwhile, more adults now perceive the internet – perhaps more accurately – as something of a mixed bag. That number has climbed from 8 percent in 2014 to now 14 percent , Pew says.
(They used the easy-to-read percentage on the statistic that favored them, and made you do the math on the one that did not. - ed)
The adults who think the internet is “mostly bad” had a large list of grievances , as it turned out. And their top concerns are somewhat surprising.
A quarter of the internet’s naysayers cited its paradoxical ability to isolate people even as it connects them – saying it leads to people spending more time with devices instead of with other people.
16 percent mentioned the problems related to the spread of misinformation and fake news, and 14 percent were concerned about the effect the internet has on children. Another 13 percent said it encourages illegal activity.
Only a small share – 5 percent – were worried about their privacy and their personal information being shared online.
November 19, 2018 - The penetration of regular Internet users in Ukraine as of late Q3 2018 fell to 20.8 million (63%) from 21.35 million in Q2 2018, the Ukrainian Internet Association (UIA) has reported on its website, referring to a study conducted by Factum Group Ukraine.
The figure fell by 2 percentage points from a year ago.
(“Two percent” is stronger than “two percentage points .” That’s hedging. - ed)
February 21, 2019 - Internet in decline beyond Google and Facebook
New WARC forecasts – based on data from 96 countries – predict a 4.3% rise in global adspend, bringing total investment to over $616 billion. But while internet advertising is still the driving force, the online market is showing signs of weakness beyond the Google and Facebook duopoly.
This is according to WARC’s Global Advertising Trends report, out today. Compared to 2018’s 5.4% rise – the strongest since 2011 – the forecast for this year is slightly softer. Nevertheless, top line growth is healthy, with advertising’s share of global GDP holding at 0.7% over the last decade.
But James McDonald, Data Editor, WARC, who authored the research, noted the dramatic changes in the global ad market’s undercurrents .
“The amount of ad money available to online publishers beyond Google and Facebook is now in decline , and the repercussions are potentially far-reaching, with several high-profile announcements of job cuts seen among online publishers already this year.
“Print publishers have already been severely hit by the migration of ad dollars online, and while traditional media excluding print have fared admirably to date, their collective take of ad investment is also trending downwards.”
Under the Duopoly
Total internet advertising spend – including desktop, mobile, and tablet – will decline by 7.2% this year , if you take the Google and Facebook ‘duopoly’ out of the equation.
Even if Google’s Traffic Acquisition Costs (TACs) – money paid to Google Network Members for hosting Google ads – are accounted for, internet spend beyond the duopoly is expected to dip by 0.7% in 2019.
Combined, the duopoly’s share of the global online ad market is expected to rise to 61.4% (up from 56.4% in 2018), with combined ad income forecast to reach $176.4 billion – an increase of 22%.
(What this shows is Government agencies using black budget money to prop up the failing Ponzi scheme, the failing Confidence game that is the Internet. The cost of use of which exceeds its benefits. - ed)
March 6, 2019 - Facebook’s US user base declined by 15 million since 2017
May 28, 2019 - Facebook’s engagement is sinking with no end in sight
July 25, 2019 - China smartphone user number starts to decline
Every quarter, QuestMobile, a research firm focused on mobile internet, issues a new report on the developments of the sector.
In the latest instalment, released this month, QuestMobile revealed something unprecedented: China’s active mobile internet user number has peaked and started to decline .
According to the following graph, the number of monthly active mobile internet users peaked at 1.138 billion in February and March. It has since declined to 1.136 billion by June.
(Two million Chinese people gave up their Smart phones between March and June of 2019 - ed)
September 17, 2019 - Canadian internet rates are falling, and you can thank the CRTC
October 28, 2019 - Google, in Rare Stumble , Posts 23% Decline in Profit
November 5, 2019 - A new ITU report reveals that over half the total global female population is still not using the internet.
January 28, 2020 - Starting the Decade by Giving You More Control Over Your Off-Facebook Activity …about.fb.com
February 8, 2020 - Facebook cancels global marketing summit because of COVID-19 concerns
Facebook Inc. FB, +0.00% is the latest tech company to pull the plug on an event because of COVID-19. “Our priority is the health and safety of our teams, so out of an abundance of caution , we cancelled our Global Marketing Summit due to evolving public health risks related to coronavirus ,” a Facebook spokesman said in an email to MarketWatch late Friday
