Open AI revenue breakdown, Shein's profits soar, Google under the DOJ microscope and more

Hello marketers,

Welcome to Franc Talking, my newsletter where I discuss the weekly stories in business, tech, and marketing. Please subscribe if you enjoy my content!

A bit about me

I’m Andy Francos, founder of Be Franc, a marketing consultancy with a uniquely transparent approach to marketing, which began trading in May 2024. I’m currently contracting at a fintech company and absolutely loving it.

I’m also available to hire as an extra in ads:

Here I am, above - with a brown Barnet, for my only appearance for Ford in the UEFA Champions League 2007/08 and 2008/09 seasons. Well worth the £200. So, if you need someone to accelerate your marketing strategy and who can also balance watermelons on their head for an ad—give me a call!

(To be honest, the above sounds SO much more interesting than introducing myself as a Marketing consultant 🤓 )

Why do this?

Three reasons:

1) I used to write a lot on my blog but haven’t done so for years. Writing helps you think and formulate ideas. I’d like to start again, without using generative AI for content creation. I may use it for spelling and grammar checks, but I want the words to be my own, discussing topics I find interesting.

2) I’m growing tired of LinkedIn content and fear that posts focused on ‘business, marketing, and tech’ (the stories and opinions I’m interested in) get lost and are replaced by someone wrestling a lion or “marketing hackers” growing a sausage startup from nothing to 100 trillion ARR—“and here’s how I did it.” I need to up my LinkedIn game.

3) Simply, marketing. Email is a great medium to grow an audience and provide updates to prospects and clients. I also really like what the team at Beehiiv is doing, so I wanted to host my content on their platform.

What will it be about?

I anticipate it will be a mix of content around the world of business, marketing, and tech, while also covering personal experiences and deep dives.

Lets jump into it, shall we?

Below is a recap of what I've read this week in business, marketing and tech, with detailed descriptions below.

💡 OpenAI and Anthropic Revenue Breakdown
💡 Shein doubles profits in UK after sales leap 40% to £1.5bn
💡 Google threatened with break-up by DOJ
💡 The Importance of Product and Marketing unity
💡 Hackers claim 'Catastrophic' Internet Archive attack

OpenAI and Anthropic Revenue Breakdown

ChatGPT is the clear leader in consumer-led generative AI tech, with over 10 million subscribers on the ChatGPT Plus plan and another 1 million on higher-priced plans. OpenAI's revenue is estimated to reach $2.7 billion, marking a 285% growth from the previous year.

Anthropic's Claude is much closer on the API side, with the company expected to generate $1 billion in revenue by the end of 2024, 85% of which is projected to come from their API package.

Src: https://www.tanayj.com/p/openai-and-anthropic-revenue-breakdown

Shein doubles profits in UK after sales leap 40% to £1.5bn

Shein, the Chinese fast-fashion retailer, has seen profits soar in the UK, with sales leaping 40% to £1.5 billion in 2023.

The e-commerce brand has faced heavy criticism over its sustainability practices, yet this doesn't seem to deter consumers, as traffic to its website is now far outpacing that of rivals Boohoo, ASOS, and New Look.

The company is expected to float on the London Stock Exchange in 2025, which would be a major win for the City of London.

Src: https://www.drapersonline.com/news/shein-uk-sales-reach-1-5bn-as-profits-double

Related reading: Vinted posts impressive growth and record profits in 2023

Google threatened with break-up by DOJ

Google has long been under scrutiny over whether the Mountain View firm is anti-competitive, harms consumers, and operates as a monopoly. This week, the DOJ laid out its plans in what is the biggest anti-competition case in tech since Microsoft in the late 90s.

The US government could propose that Google sell off its Chrome browser, Android operating system, and force Google to share search queries, clicks, and results with competitors.

Unsurprisingly, the search giant responded with a carefully worded blog that was likely in the works for some time, linking to a WSJ piece from a few days earlier, which stated that "Google’s Grip on Search Slips as TikTok and AI Startups Mount Challenge."

This presents a significant threat to Google, which has faced criticism in 2024 for being “asleep at the wheel” in the AI arms race and for its regulatory challenges.

The Alphabet stock remains up at 17.88% in 2024 YTD.

Src: 

• https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/public-policy/doj-search-remedies-framework/ 

• https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/09/usa_vs_google_proposed_remedies/ 

• https://www.wsj.com/tech/online-ad-market-google-tiktok-9599d7e8

The Importance of Product and Marketing Unity

I read Kevin Indig Substack entitled “Reddit masterclass,” and it really is an excellent read that I recommend you check out.

The article highlights Reddit’s significant, yet somewhat controversial, rise in organic visibility. This growth has been driven by Product initiatives aimed at reducing sign-up friction, improving website and app speed, and contextually serving ads—all while opening up content to more non-logged-in users.

Indig also points out how users often append “Reddit” to the end of their search queries (e.g., “Hurricane Milton Reddit”), which acts as a strong signal to Google regarding Reddit’s authority. 

Reddit's rise is quite remarkable, with Similarweb showing a 63% increase in organic traffic over the past 12 months compared to the previous year (see featured images), while direct traffic has remained relatively flat. This surge puts significant pressure on Reddit to either sustain its current traffic levels through Google or to diversify into other channels—both of which pose unique challenges.

The key takeaway here is that by focusing on a superior product and user experience, Reddit’s organic visibility has gone into overdrive—indicating that if you’re a marketer wanting to make an impact, you need to be deeply embedded within the Product leadership framework. You can’t simply say, “Product isn’t my responsibility”, you need to be at the table.

Reddit’s stock is up 45.22% since its IPO in March of 2024. 

Src: https://www.growth-memo.com/p/reddit-masterclass

Hackers Claim 'Catastrophic' Internet Archive Attack

I discovered this firsthand and wanted to understand the motive behind the attack.

The Internet Archive is a fantastic, freely accessible tool that has been invaluable to many in Digital Marketing over the years (especially in SEO) for tracking website changes and recovering content that has been lost. It also serves as a crucial digital library, documenting our journey on the web since the mid-90s, so it's incredibly disappointing to see it targeted in this way.

I hope it comes back online in the next few hours.

Src: https://www.newsweek.com/catastrophic-internet-archive-hack-hits-31-million-people-1966866

Thanks for reading, I hope to see you again.

Andy