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Advertiser Competition and Gatekeeping in Ad-Funded Media

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Peitz

  • Anton Sobolev

  • Paul Wegener

Abstract

Advertisers place ads on publishers’ websites to attract the attention of multihoming consumers. Because of competition in the product market, advertisers may have an incentive to partially or fully foreclose their rivals. A gatekeeper may be able to limit publishers’ access to some of the consumers. We fully characterize the equilibrium in which the gatekeeper, publishers, and advertisers make strategic pricing decisions. We show how the presence of the gatekeeper affects the advertisers’ foreclosure decisions and the surplus of the different market participants.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Peitz & Anton Sobolev & Paul Wegener, 2026. "Advertiser Competition and Gatekeeping in Ad-Funded Media," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2025_731, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_731
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • L12 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Monopoly; Monopolization Strategies
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • M37 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Advertising

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