Advertising, Economics of

The economics of → advertising are crucially important in understanding the history of modern mass media as well as their current state and future directions. Sometimes called “indirect” funding (compared to the “direct” funding provided by consumers to such media as books and recorded music), advertising as an economic institution involves several different industries and collectives. Advertising's influence as a revenue stream for media is arguably a more significant social force than the symbolic power of explicit commercial content like television advertisements. Advertising revenue fundamentally influences not just the placement of ads in the media, but also the nonadvertising content and dissemination of funded media. This is increasingly true even for media and cultural forms that traditionally have not depended upon the generation of advertising revenue, such as theatrically released films and video games (→ Media Economics). The shift of advertising revenues to digital media and as a result of the 2008–2009 global recession have deeply altered the media landscape.