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Greg Tingle, Founder, Media Man Group / Media Man Australia / Media Man Int

Media Man Internatiional

(Search Central Live)

Sydney, Australia 2026

Google

Search Central Live

Sydney Schedule

May 22, 2026

Schedule

Schedule may be updated in accordance to registration profile and other factors.

NOTE: Time is shown according to event/ Australian Eastern Standard Time (Sydney timezone).

09:30 - 10:30 Registration and networking
10:30 - 11:00 Welcome and Opening keynote
11:00 - 11:30 How Search Works and where's AI?
11:30 - 12:05 Lightning session A: SEO and AI
12:05 - 13:05 Lunch
13:05 - 13:30 Did you know that? A closeup on Search infrastructure
13:30 - 13:45 Lightning session B: Technical foundations
13:45 - 14:00 Rich results and more
14:00 - 14:20 Lightning session C: Ecommerce
14:20 - 14:30 Break
14:30 - 15:15 Search Console: What's new and 5 things to do now
15:15 - 15:25 Lightning session D1: Knowing your users
15:25 - 15:40 Industry Insights: Australia in Focus
15:40 - 15:50 Lightning session D3: Knowing your users
15:50 - 16:05 Lightning session E: SEO wisdom
16:05 - 16:15 Closing keynote
16:15 - 16:55 Q&A / panel discussion
16:55 - 17:00 Closing
17:00 - 18:00 Happy hour networking

(Credit: Google)

Media Man

Markets, Cryptos and Culture

June 1, 2026

Wall Street, New York - Sin City, Sydney, Australia

"The Wall Street Shuffle" (10cc)

Big Week In Store For Markets, Streaming Biz, Combat Sports; Ripple Effect! Bulls vs Bears continued

UFC Macau Very Solid, WWE Clash In Italy: Strong Show and Lucha Libre Noche de Los Grandes Over-delivers with Mask vs Mask Modern Classic/Match Of The Year Contender!

WWE RAW Upcoming: Clash In Italy Aftermath and Road To UFC Freedom 250; Wrestling With Numbers And Creative

WWE's Logan Paul

"Logan Paul knows better than anyone, this ain't ballet" Paul Heyman, re Paul injury

Digital Bush Telegraph

Australia and Wall St Continues To Ring Bells

Markets

June 1 (Aust)

ASX futures down 13 points or 0.2%: 8737

AUD +0.1% at US71.70¢

Bitcoin $73,108.05 -1.16%

Dow +0.7%
S&P +0.2%
Nasdaq +0.2%
Gold +1.0% to $US4540.26 an ounce
Brent oil -1.7% at $US91.12 a barrel
Iron ore -0.1% at $US105.20 a ton

News (Australia)

Australian Dollar: $0.7168 USD (up $0.0005 USD)
Iron Ore: $105.20 USD (down $0.10 USD)
Iron Ore : $105.15 USD (up $0.07 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $87.36 USD (down $1.36 USD) Gold Price : $4,539.76 USD (up $43.78 USD)
Copper Price): $6.3940 USD (down $0.0275 USD)
Dow Jones: 51,032.46 (up 363.49 points)

News

ASX eyes lower open as investors await RBA speeches

Futures for the S&P/ASX 200 Index indicate a 0.1 per cent fall on Monday, following the strongest rally in nearly two months on Friday. The week ahead will see a number of speeches from senior Reserve Bank officials, with investors hoping they will provide a view as to the interest rate outlook, while 'stop-start' efforts by Iran and the US and Washington to extend their ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz will again continue to dominate the market outlook. (RMS)

News

Advertising/Media/Sports/Betting

'Immoral': Labor gambling ad limits rubbished

The federal government has been attacked for not implementing key recommendations of an inquiry into sports wagering advertising; the inquiry was led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy and called for a total ban on gambling advertising. New draft laws released by the government on Friday call for gambling advertisements to be limited to three per hour, but they will still be allowed after 8.30pm. Prominent anti-gambling advocate Tim Costello says the idea that all children will be in bed by that time during the weekend when a sporting event is on defies logic. He says the government should resist claims that a ban on gambling ads will hurt free-to-air TV, with Costello claiming that it will soon end as a result of competition from streaming, and to that to allow it to operate a little longer so that children can be groomed by gambling ads is "immoral". (RMS)

News

Industry/Resources (Australia)

Bidders for Whyalla steelworks offer a stark choice of global experience versus local ambition

A consortium led by Matt Latimore's M Resources and Indian firm Jindal Steel and Power are the two final short-listed bidders for Whyalla steelworks, although BlueScope still retains the right to make a last-minute bid. Jindal can claim to have an advantage over Latimer in terms of its experience in running and operating steel mills, although M Resources will likely acquire that expertise via potential future consortium partners POSCO and JSW Steel. Jindal does not have a very good record in Australia, with its only major local operation having been Wollongong Resources, which operated coal mines at Russell Vale and Wongawilli. Both mines were mothballed in early 2024, with the loss of more than 200 jobs, after safety regulators ordered the closure of the Russell Vale mine after five underground fires in just a short periof of time. (Roy Morgan Summary)

News

Gaming/Tech Biz

Pokies company Ainsworth writes off $13.2m investment in alleged 'pyramid scheme'

Australian poker machine manufacturer Ainsworth Game Technology has lost a $13.2 million investment in an Argentinian fintech company called Wenance, with the company having been declared bankrupt. Its CEO Alejandro Muszak was arrested in 2024 amid fraud allegations facing Wenance, while there are claims that it operated a Ponzi scheme. With Ainsworth Game Technology having recently forecast a profit before tax of just $1m for the six months ending 30 June, the news that it has lost its $13.2 million investment in Wenance is unlikely to please its shareholders. (RMS)

Cryptos

XRP $1.3079 -2.10

DOGE $0.09976 -0.99%

Bitcoin Cash $292.91 -4.10

News

Gold News

Again, technical factors are saving gold from the drop

Gold fell below $4,400, reaching levels last seen during the prolonged March decline. At its intraday low, the price dipped below the 200-day moving average. Buyers have repeatedly stepped in around this level over the past three years. The last week of May was no exception. Beyond purely technical factors, the precious metal was supported by positive signals from the US-Iran front and an encouraging equity market rally, which boosted risk appetite.

The key difference between the current rally from $4,400 to levels above $4,500 and the one in March is that gold no longer appears heavily oversold, and market conditions appear much more balanced. A break below this level could open the way to the $4,000–$4,100 range. However, if selling pressure intensifies, the decline could prove much deeper, down to $3,400.

Although we find it hard to believe in the sustainability of the current rebound, it is still worth acknowledging that the market may get stuck near current levels, gathering strength after the downward momentum, which could take anywhere from a couple of days to a week. An even more optimistic – and even less likely – scenario involves a bullish breakout above the 50-day moving average at $4,630, which would put an end to the recent months' downtrend and restore a long-term bullish bias. (FxPro)

News Lead Up

The crypto market is juggling altcoins

Market Overview

The crypto market remains stagnant, stuck at $2.57T and hovering around the 50-day moving average, awaiting further signals. The crypto market’s overall sideways movement looks like a juggling act for mid-tier altcoins: one after another takes the lead. Among the most popular coins over the last 24 hours are NEAR Protocol (+14%), The Graph (+5.6%) and Toncoin (+4.5%). The underperformers were Zcash (-5.9%), Dash (-4.1%) and Uniswap (-3.1%).

Bitcoin rose to $77.8K at the end of the day on Monday, but by the start of trading in Europe, it was trading $1,000 lower. The coin is finding support near the upward-sloping 50-day moving average. Earlier in May, the 200-day moving average briefly acted as strong resistance. If current trends continue, these lines will cross in just a couple of weeks, forming a golden cross, a strong bullish signal. But even before that, we may see a breakout of one of the key moving averages, the outcome of which will determine the trajectory of Bitcoin and the entire crypto market for the coming weeks.

News Background

Institutional investors have withdrawn $1.74 billion from Bitcoin ETFs over the past two weeks. Meanwhile, retail traders are increasing their leverage in anticipation of a reversal in the BTC price. In the past, such a combination has repeatedly resulted in severe waves of liquidations, warns CryptoOnchain.

Current Ethereum levels are suitable for building long-term positions, according to MN Trading founder Michael van de Poppe. In his view, the asset remains a crucial infrastructure element of the on-chain ecosystem, despite lagging the market in recent months due to macroeconomic factors.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the listing of options on a Bitcoin index calculated based on BTC prices across multiple exchanges. This is the first such instrument on US stock exchanges currently; only options linked to the value of spot crypto ETF shares are traded there.

Strategy skipped its weekly Bitcoin purchase last week, instead buying back $1.5 billion of its own convertible bonds. The company’s founder, Michael Saylor, publicly revealed for the first time the tactic that Strategy has been using for five years. (FxPro)

News Lead Up

May 25

Bitcoin is shy to move up, but refuses to fall

Market Overview

The crypto market continues to fluctuate, returning for the third time this week to market capitalisation levels around $2.57T, although at the end of last week it dipped to $2.5T following an earlier surge to $2.7T in May. Over the past 24 hours, the top-performing coins have been Near Protocol (+7.3%), Internet Computer (+4.1%) and Toncoin (+3.4%). Uniswap has seen the biggest decline, falling by 1.6%, whilst Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin have each lost 1%.

Bitcoin fell to $74.3K on Saturday but was trading just above $77K by Monday. Its price movements remain very subdued, with no sharp spikes, and it continues to lag behind stock indices, which are climbing towards all-time highs. On the other hand, the trend of buying on dips is also clearly continuing. The 50-day moving average remains a support level, but buyers are wary of accelerating their purchases. They are likely somewhat put off by the lack of a ‘final capitulation’ in the leading cryptocurrency, which could have brought the bear market to an end.

News Background

Outflows from US spot Bitcoin ETFs have continued for a second week, following six weeks of inflows. According to SoSoValue, net weekly outflows from spot BTC ETFs rose to $1.26 billion, hitting their highest level since late January. Total inflows since the approval of Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 have fallen to $57.08 billion (-2.2% for the week).

Outflows from US spot Ethereum ETFs have also persisted for two consecutive weeks. Net weekly outflows from ETH ETFs fell by $216 million. Total net inflows since the ETF's launch in July 2024 have fallen to $11.62 billion (-1.8% week-on-week).

Weakening retail demand and outflows from crypto ETFs could be a ‘contrarian indicator’ signalling a buy signal for Bitcoin, according to Santiment.

Bitcoin miners remain cautious and are not yet showing confidence that the bear market phase is over, CryptoQuant notes. Miners continue to reduce their reserves of the leading cryptocurrency, as they do not yet see sufficient grounds for active BTC purchases.

The media corporation Trump Media and Technology Group transferred 2,650 bitcoins from the project’s crypto wallet to the http://Crypto.com exchange. The transaction suggests a desire to sell BTC, Arkham Intelligence speculated. The deal will be a loss-maker, as the average purchase price of the coins exceeded $118K.

Billionaire Mark Cuban has sold 80% of his bitcoin holdings and stated that he has lost faith in bitcoin as a safe-haven asset. According to him, he continues to hold Ethereum, placing more trust in this altcoin than in BTC. (FxPro)

News (120 + Hours Ago)

Silver And Gold

Silver caught in a price trap

After a long period of calm, volatility has returned to the silver market. Silver surged to a two-month high, rallying more than 20% from its May lows in just a week. However, concerns over tighter monetary policy and rising bond yields have since put pressure on prices.

Of course, the current fluctuations cannot be compared to what we saw in January, when a 35% drop occurred in a single day. Investors felt that the rally had gone too far. However, the situation does not yet look like a classic bubble burst, as silver prices are still 130% higher than a year ago, which is suppressing global demand. UBS estimates a 50 million-ounce decline this year, allowing the bank to lower its price forecast from $100 to $85 per ounce by the end of the second quarter.

High prices are forcing not only jewellers but also industrialists to seek alternatives for silver. There has been some success in replacing it with copper in the manufacture of solar panels. This sector accounts for a fifth of global supply. Due to the fall in global demand, the 46.3-million-ounce deficit forecast by the Silver Institute for 2026 may prove smaller, putting pressure on the price per ounce.

Silver is also facing weaker investment demand. Rising global bond yields and a stronger US dollar are putting pressure on the metal. UBS reports that speculative interest has fallen sharply, while silver ETF holdings have dropped by 70 million ounces since the start of the year, to 794 million ounces.

De-escalation in the Middle East could turn the tables. Oil, the US dollar and Treasury yields would fall, which would be positive for silver. However, as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, it remains under pressure.

The silver market is relatively small compared to gold, which makes it more vulnerable to speculative trading. This often leads to sharper price moves in both directions. (FxPro)

News

(ICYMI)

Conor McGregor Rematches Max Holloway at UFC 329

UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena headlines with this welterweight rematch during International Fight Week, airing live on Paramount+. McGregor, 22-6 and last fighting in 2021 after a tibia fracture, meets Holloway, 27-9, in his welterweight debut—the ex-featherweight champ aiming to make a statement. Trash talk flew fast: McGregor promised to 'son' Holloway again, while 'Blessed' fired back demanding respect on his name. Early odds favor Holloway at -500 amid McGregor's ring rust.

The Lead Up

TKO Neg With Talent/Wrestling With Numbers And Contracts; If The New Price Is Right Mr Wrestling and Ms Wrestling; Mr Corbin aka Mr Lucky enjoying strong buzz: Join the dots; Mr Kross Of WSW and MLW Enjoys Strong Mega Buzz In Australia and Globally: World Series Wrestling, Belt Collector! WSW YouTube Is Updated!

UFC MMA and U.S Admin Mix It Up With Fighters Visiting White House; Patriots Well Received In And Around Oval Office; Present Trump Gets Welcome Image Revamp Of Sorts; Keeping The Wars In The Octagon!

Legendary WWE Tag team Rumored To Return To Roster; No Names/Spoilers - Join The Dots .. And You Can't Beat That ... Ok, Not . S.A.W.F.T ... Hard On The Mic + +

Red Turns To Green And Gold!

News Flashback

Netflix MMA Debut Peaks at 11.6 Million U.S. Viewers with Rousey Win

On May 16 at Los Angeles' Intuit Dome, MVP's triple-main-event card averaged 9.3 million U.S. viewers and peaked at 11.6 million during Rousey's featherweight submission over Carano, topping the prior MMA high from 2011. Other highlights included Mike Perry's corner-stoppage win over Nate Diaz and Francis Ngannou's first-round knockout of Philipe Lins, drawing star power from fighters like Rousey and Ngannou. Promoters Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian celebrated the global reach and 410 million social impressions, though podcaster Brendan Schaub questioned the figures and off-cage drama saw Claressa Shields banned after a VIP-area altercation with Alycia Baumgardner. (Media Man Peg-On): Are the numbers and biz model sustainable? Perhaps only if Netflix keeps green lighting them. Is there a return on investment if you are Netflix? Insiders and outsiders continue to debate broadcast!

News

Pop Culture Ref: "The Wall Street Shuffle" (10 cc)

LinkedIn b2b Business Continues To Lift For Media Man Group and Associates

News (ICYMI)

Dana White, UFC Power, Makes Front Cover Of Time: The Promoter!

Alphabet/Google Cracks TIME 100 Cover; Positive Buzz

Beast Industries aka MrBeast TIME Top 100 Influencer;

Post Buzz Continues For TIME Media Darlings

TKO/WWE In And Out Of The Ring Continues; Up and Down Cycle; TKO's Nick Khan Offer Positive Vibes To US Admin Re Ali Act Amendment; Counter Punch by some competitors; WWE RAW: Clash In Italy Fallout and Road To UFC Freedom 250

TKO Prez Mark Shapiro Admits Back To Back WrestleMania's In Sin City Las Vegas May Have Been Mistake; Will Return To City To City Strategy, No Repeat City's For WrestleMania In Future

TKO's LinkedIn Continues To Enjoy Strong News Media Buzz; Google LinkedIn Numbers Up; Search Engine Journal LinkedIn; Rio Tinto (Mining) Strong LinkedIn Media Vibes And Buzz

News

WWE's Danhausen Offers Mega Exposure To Rootless Coffee And WWE Merch; Number 3 Best Seller Of WWE Merch With Human Monies; Danhausen ESPN News! Very Nice!

Media Man LinkedIn and X Up; WWE Clash In Italy Aftermath To Hit WWE RAW and Road To UFC Freedom 250

Google/Alphabet: Bullish!

May 31, 2026 (U.S)

Markets

Coffee 265.60 -8.65

Cocoa 3823.00 -176

Sillicon 8620.00 +205.00

Silver 75.755 +0.501

Beef 349.70 +0.45

World Container Index 2800.00 +88.00

Newsfeed

News Lead Up

248 + Hours Ago

BTC/Cryptos

Bitcoin hits the pause button at $80K

Market Overview

The crypto market capitalisation has stalled at around $2.70 trillion, reflecting Bitcoin’s indecision around $80,000. At the same time, risk aversion is mounting in global markets, which can be easily linked to profit-taking following the rally and the US dollar's upward momentum. Among the top coins, the leaders over the past day were Theta (+8.5%), Toncoin (+4.9%) and NEAR Protocol (+2.1%). The underperformers were Dash (-4.2%), Official Trump (-3.5%) and Zcash (-3.5%). Full coverage via FxPro. (FxPro). (Media Man Peg-On): Can we call Michael Saylor the "King Of Bulls". Awesome PR machine and LinkedIn buzz. Join the dots!

News

Media Man with Cafe News Media Watercooler

Beer killer? Rise of the vodka RTD

Gold Coast-based drinks maker Hard Fizz emerged at around the time of the pandemic, while the ready-to-drink canned beverage market boomed after the pandemic. Hard Fizz originally focused on alcoholic seltzer drinks, but it is now switching to vodka-based canned drinks, with CEO Wade Tiller saying the change is because you are more limited with flavour when you use seltzer. Hard Fizz's seltzer sales have slumped over the past year, at a time when there is a broader consumer shift to RTDs, while vodka-based light RTDs account for 75 per cent of Australian RTD sales. (RMS)

News

oOh!media rejects $770m offer, triggers bidding war

The board of listed outdoor advertising group oOh!media has advised that it is open to further takeover approaches after spurning two suitors. The company has indicated that it assessed both offers and deemed that neither reflected its intrinsic value. US-based private equity firm I Squared Capital had offered $1.45 per share, valuing its bid at $770m; it had trumped a previous offer from Pacific Equity Partners of $1.40 per share. Brian Han from Morningstar says the rejection of both offers means that oOh!media's directors have effectively put up a 'for auction' sign. (RMS)

News

Current

Shares

TKO Group Holdings Inc

$205.18

+2.31 +2.31%

Alphabet Inc Class A

$376.43

-2.51%

Meta Platforms Inc
$632.51
-0.44%

Netflix Inc
$86.02
-0.39%

Wynn Resorts Ltd
$101.22
-0.32%

MGM Resorts International
$43.67 +1.72%
NVIDIA Corp

$211.14
-1.45%
News

(ICYMI)
Wrestling/WWE/Combat Sports

Logan Paul Reveals Gnarly Scar After Triceps Tear in WWE Title Defense
During Saturday Night's Main Event, Paul and Austin Theory defended their championships against the Street Profits when Paul tore his triceps on a dive from Angelo Dawkins. WWE confirmed the injury on Raw, with a six-month recovery timeline, though Paul joked he'd return in weeks fueled by his PRIME shake. He underwent surgery soon after, posting graphic operating room selfies and calling the scar an 'uncrustable' edge, earning praise for his toughness from fans and wrestlers alike. (Media Man Peg On): Much respect to LP. The wrestlers wrestlers, akin to the late, great, Harley Race. LP to return with a veneange. Austin Theory and Bron keeping The Vision flag aloft. Dawkins Dawg may get bit?! LP bite worse than considerable bark. Size of the fight in the dog, right creative mastermind Michael Hayes.

News

Roman Reigns Retains Title in Brutal Tribal Combat at WWE Clash in Italy

WWE's first show in Italy drew 12,000 fans on May 31, with most champions holding strong in five title matches streamed on Netflix and ESPN. Cody Rhodes pinned Gunther amid controversy over a foot on the ropes, Rhea Ripley beat Jade Cargill after Charlotte Flair's help and dedicated the win to her Italian grandparents, Brock Lesnar returned to crush Oba Femi, and rising star Sol Ruca upset Becky Lynch for the Women's Intercontinental title. The main event saw Reigns outlast Fatu in a 27-minute no-DQ war, followed by a tense staredown with Rhodes.

News

(ICYMI)

MGM Vegas

Heyman Hustle/Paul Heyman - Live At MGM

News

Heyman’s involvement ties into his Looking4Larry Agency’s creative work and a broader MGM Studios partnershipMGM Live is the new entertainment/content brand for MGM Resorts International’s Las Vegas properties. It launched on Instagram with a debut reel featuring Paul Heyman and UFC President Dana White together at an EZ Baccarat table at the Live at Park MGM venue on the Las Vegas.

This marks a notable crossover, as UFC and WWE are both under TKO Group Holdings. Park MGM has hosted WWE events (like the 2026 Hall of Fame) and UFC PPVs.

Heyman shot disruptive/late-night content there during WrestleMania week, including:His TikTok debut from Park MGM (talking about Brock Lesnar, WrestleMania, etc.).

"Heyman on Heyman" interview with his son Jacob for HeymanHustleTV. Multiple Instagram/TikTok reels embracing his "King of New York (and everywhere else)" persona while promoting MGM.

News

Big Tech

(ICYMI)

Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta Platforms Report Q1 2026 Earnings Beating Expectations

Alphabet reported Q1 2026 revenue of $109.9 billion and EPS of $5.11, surpassing estimates, with Google Cloud revenue up 63% to $20 billion.

Microsoft reported fiscal Q3 2026 revenue of $82.89 billion and EPS of $4.27, beating expectations, driven by 39-40% Azure growth.

Amazon reported Q1 2026 revenue of $181.5 billion and EPS of $2.78 exceeding forecasts, with AWS up 28%, while Meta reported Q1 2026 revenue of $56.3 billion and EPS of $10.44 above estimates.

News

(Rey Mysterio is new AAA GM); JBL May Challenge!

Pop Culture/Lucha Libre

Mask vs Mask. El Grande Americano's Make History In Mexico May 30, 2026; Match Of The Year Buzz!

Sports News Lead

UFC - MMA Building Stars Again; SS King Of Division, Substance And Hype; Yan UFC Bonus; Dana White Inks McGregor for UFC 329; Road To UFC Freedom 250

New York Kind Of Feeling

US Stocks - Black-ish Friday again?

WWE RAW Upcoming: WWE Clash In Italy Fallout!

Road To WWE Money In The Bank (for some)

Google/Alphabet vs The Others

X vs The Others

Sports Biz Event Tickets And Merch Drive

Danhausen Lifts WWE Merch Hausen

News

Media Man Group Weekly Series

Pop Culture Dream Matches

Oba Femi vs Brock Lesnar - Rematch - Clash in Italy - Future Rubber Match?! WWE SummerSlam?

New Blood vs New Day vs Old News

GCW Bloodspot vs The Others

MGM Wrestling vs Atlantic City

Mr UFC vs Upstart MMA's

Bam Bam vs Time

Mankind vs IWC

UFC vs Outlaw Mud Shows

MVP vs Weekend Warriors

WBD Wrestling vs Own Goal

Mr Dingo Driver vs Dingo Warrior

New School vs Old School

Paul Heyman and Son and MGM Gamification vs others!

PopWrecked vs Karen

Studio97 vs others: Catfight Rules!

FHM vs MAXIM

x AI vs others!

T. Abbott (Aust) and P. Hanson vs Wokes

Rousey and Gina vs Critics

Ali vs self

The Man In The Arena vs self

Netflix vs Paramount Plus vs YouTube - 3 Way Dance! Special Ref: Easy E. Share The Love!

Ultra A.I vs Human Full Bloods

Extreme Swimming vs Traditional Swimming

Ex Machina vs Cave Man

Rudos vs Technicos (Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide)

Killer Kross vs All; KK The Belt Collector!

Mr News vs Mr VOX *That's with a V, not FOX)!

FOX vs The Hare: Fox And The Hound! Re-match. NYC Rules!

News

Best Quotes Of The Day

"What's your hustle" Paul Heyman

"I've never met a currency I didn't like" JBL

"Everyone you meet knows something you don't know" Anon/Mr Crypto Castle

"An investment in ones self is always the best bet" Greg Tingle, Media Man Group

"The consumer and fans decide what and who is the best" Greg Tingle, Media Man Group

"More often than not it pays to be Google friendly" Greg Tingle, Media Man Group (repeated at Google Search Central Live, Sydney, Australia)

Media Man

News Flashback

Google, Aust Post among top brands - 9th June 2016

Technology giant Google remains Australia's most influential brand, while Australia Post has joined the top 10 despite its rapidly shrinking mail business.

Google tops the Ipsos Most Influential Brands list for a third straight year, while supermarket giant Coles jumped up the list to be the highest ranked local in fifth.

Big US tech companies continue to exert the most influence, with Microsoft ranked No.2, followed by Apple at No.3 and Facebook at No.4.

Brands are ranked on factors including engagement, trust and presence.

Ipsos managing director Gillian O'Sullivan said there is a strong local presence in the top 10, with Telstra a new entrant at six and Australia Post moving up to eight.

'In a global market, locals continue to exert influence,' she said.

'Local brands can dominate in terms of strong corporate citizenship, service and grass roots support.'

These areas continued to be a key 'path to influence', and people increasingly relate to and define themselves by brands, Ms O'Sullivan said.

Coles rival Woolworths failed to make the 2016 list, dropping from five in 2015 as it loses market share to its rivals.

Australia Post's elevation came as it introduces a two-tier mail system and higher stamp prices to restore profitability in light of plunging letter volumes.

The government-owned business is also exploring new revenue streams such as passport registrations, identity checks, banking and payment services, while its parcels business is booming amid the growing popularity of online shopping.

Telstra's return to the top 10 after missing the cut in 2015 comes amid several widespread network troubles that have damaged its public image, though it recently said that has not yet resulted in a fall in customer numbers.

(AAP)