According to the latest report released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), marketers spent $7.9 billion in their Web advertising campaigns during the first half of 2006. This was a 37% jump from the same period last year.
During the second quarter Web ad spend was almost $4.1 billion, a 5.5% increase over the total for the first quarter of the year.
For the first half of the year online ad spend saw increases in all outlets. Once again, search advertising received the largest share of the market with $3.16 billion, or about 40% of the total. Classifieds followed behind with $1.58 billion, or about 20% of the pie. Referrals/lead generation and e-mail formats trailed behind with $633 million and $158 million respectively.
Display ad formats, which include rich media, ad banners/display ads, sponsorships, and slotting fees, garnered $2.53 billion during the first half, or about 31% of the total.
“The latest results reaffirm the Internet's growing importance for marketers to integrate online advertising into their overall media plans,” said David Silverman, Partner, Entertainment & Media Practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
He added, “While search advertising remains the largest format in terms of revenues, we expect to see new formats like video ads to continue to emerge as advertisers seek to leverage the branding opportunities afforded by the growing installed base of broadband users.”
“Three years ago search was the big driver and display was off, now it’s all the main categories: search, classifieds, and display,” said Greg Stuart, CEO of the IAB.
This report should come as a reason to breathe a small sigh of relief for those who saw Yahoo’s recent revenue caution as a harbinger of bad things to come for the entire online ad industry.
Sources:
http://www.iab.net/news/pr_2006_09_25.asp
http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3623521
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2006/09/25/AR2006092500415.html
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