Mamamia co-founder Mia Freedman has lashed global technology platforms, accusing them of draining advertising revenue from Australian media businesses at the same time as contributing to growing mental health issues, social division and addiction.
Speaking at Mamamia’s 2027 upfront in Sydney last Thursday, where several new podcasts were announced, Freedman delivered her message to a room full of advertisers and media buyers, arguing that the growing dominance of global tech platforms is putting Australian media businesses under threat.
“There’s no way to sugar-coat this, so I’m just going to be blunt,” she told the audience. “Every single media business in Australia is under threat right now.”
“Let’s be clear about what that threat is. Right now, 75 cents of every advertising dollar spent in this country goes to the tech platforms, who send it straight out of this country, never to return.”
Her comments come as Australia’s internet advertising market continues to grow, with the latest figures showing a record $19.8 billion was spent across the sector in FY26. According to the latest IAB Australia Internet Advertising Revenue Report, reported by B&T, internet advertising expenditure increased 14 per cent year on year, marking its strongest financial-year growth since FY22.
But while the market continues to expand, the question of where that money is ultimately landing remains a growing concern for local media businesses.
In a recent report by The Australian, Bench Media co-founder and chief operating officer Shai Luft said much of the growth in advertising investment was flowing to global technology giants, including Google, Meta and TikTok “because their advantage extends beyond audience scale”.
“They possess huge volumes of behavioural data and some of the world’s most sophisticated advertising algorithms. That inevitably means a significant proportion of Australian advertising investment flows to global platforms,” Luft said.
However, Freedman highlighted the issue extends far beyond the financial pressure being placed on local media companies.
“Let’s also be clear about what those tech platforms are using all of that money to do. They say they’re bringing people together. They’re not. What they’re doing is dividing communities and whole countries.”
“They’re radicalising young men, they’re funnelling boys directly into the manosphere, they’re impacting the mental health of entire generations of girls and young women in the most devastating ways.
“They’re drowning all of us in a doom soup that leaves us feeling angry, and unhappy, and scared, and addicted, and they’re doing it all deliberately. It’s their business model.”
Freedman said she had been having recent conversations with clients who had watched The Social Reckoning, Aaron Sorkin’s sequel to The Social Network, which dramatises the real-life events surrounding former Facebook employee and whistle-blower Frances Haugen.
Haugen, a former civic integrity engineer at Facebook, exposed internal company documents in 2021 that revealed concerns about the platform’s algorithms and their impact on users, including the prioritisation of engagement over user safety.
“I was talking to some clients in Brisbane, and they said they walked out of that movie feeling sick,” Freedman said. “Because you know what the tech platforms aren’t doing? They’re not making anything. Literally, they make nothing.”
On the other hand, Freedman argued that Australian media companies are constantly creating content, investing in local talent and contributing to the economy.
“That’s our business model,” she said. “We invest in the local economy. We invest in homegrown content and journalism. We invest in people by employing many, many thousands of Australians. Media companies also pay tax in Australia. It’s another way in which we’re different to the tech platforms.”
However, while Freedman made clear her frustration with the platforms, she acknowledged that Australian media companies cannot simply walk away from them.
“We have to be,” she said, referring to the need for media businesses to maintain a presence on the platforms.
“We know it’s table stakes for every brand. It’s business. We get it. The tech giants and their algorithms can deliver you a ton of eyeballs, no question. And of course, they’re going to be part of the mix. The question is, how much?”
And that was where Freedman turned her attention directly to the people in the room, making an appeal to advertisers and media buyers to give local publishers a greater share of their advertising budgets.
“This is my message today, on behalf of every Australian media company, to you.”
She said that when media buyers are allocating budgets and planning campaigns, she wants them to consider homegrown media brands that have “earned the right to be a bigger part of your mix”.
“And not as a favour, and not because we want you to take a risk, but because homegrown media is effective. The tech platforms can never help your brand create deep connections with the Australians that you need to reach, because that connection has to be earned through trust.”
‘Algorithms are the opposite of trust’
Freedman argued that while technology platforms can deliver scale, they fail at delivering the same level of trust that local media businesses have built with their audiences.
“Algorithms, they’re the opposite of trust, and that’s why they can never deliver it to you.”
She highlighted Mamamia’s understanding of its female audiences across its various show brands, and the company’s focus on protecting and serving those communities as a point of difference.
“Today you heard how well we understand women in our audience for each one of our show brands, and you’ve heard how intentional we are about taking care of those audiences, protecting them, serving them. That’s where trust lives. And don’t you want that kind of trust for your brand?”
She ended her speech by calling on “every person in the room”.
“You have the power, not just to make a difference to media companies, but to impact every generation of Australians,” she said. “No pressure.”
