According to the most recent "Internet Advertising Revenue Report" released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), U.S. online advertising spending in 2006 reached $16.9 billion, setting a new record and showing a 35% increase from 2005.
Since the fourth quarter of 2004, U.S. Internet ad spending has increased from quarter to quarter. The first quarter of 2006 saw online ad revenues of $3.85 billion, while the second quarter realized revenues of $4.06 billion. The third quarter saw revenues of $4.19 billion, while the fourth quarter reached $4.78 billion in revenues, a 14.0% jump from the third quarter.
"The results for 2006 show the Internet continues to offer marketers the widest spectrum of advertising formats, from search-based text ads to dynamic rich-media and broadband video ads," said Peter Petrusky of PwC.
These numbers come on the heels of a featured article in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend highlighting the growth and momentum of online advertising. The article pointed out the ease of targeting through online advertising, as well as the flexibility of running campaigns online.
Search, display, classifieds, and lead generation all saw increases.
Senior analyst at eMarketer, David Hallerman, said "One key market shift can be seen in how display ad spending grew at a higher rate than even paid search advertising. Brand-oriented marketers are just starting to ramp up spending, and we'll see greater growth in that area over the next few years."
eMarkter expects to see total U.S. online ad spending of $19.5 billion in 2007. This figure is expected to soar to $36.5 billion by 2011.
The estimated figure for 2006 ($16.4 billion) from eMarketer was below the actual total.
Source:
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1004963
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