Online advertising for the first quarter of 2005 is reported to be performing strongly, with industry experts and research companies revealing an increase in advertising revenue for this quarter and throughout 2004, according to Merrill Lynch.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers estimate that for the last quarter of 2004 online adspend hit $2.7 billion, resulting in total online advertising revenue for 2004 hitting $9.6 billion, a increase of 32% year on year.
Advertising firm, AdZone Research, reported online advertising expenditure in January to be up by more than $68 million, or 10%, compared to December 2004, taking the total up to $716 million. The technology sector remains at the top of the advertising category, spending $164 million in January, which is 10% more than in December 2004.
The finance sector spent the second largest amount on advertising during January 2005, totalling $87.2 million, retail took third position at $75.7 million and health came in at fourth, doubling its expenditure from $27 million in December to $68.3 million the following month.
A study by Borrell Associates revealed that online advertising within the car sector increased by just over half to $1.2 billion in 2004 and is predicted to grow to nearly $2 billion in 2006.
Online advertising in the UK continues the upward trend seen in the US, with adspend reported to be up 52% in 2004 to £507 million, according to research by Starcom UK Group.
Paid searches are shown by Starcom to have become the fastest growing media channel, with a year on year increase of 109%, to £114.3 million for the first half of 2004. The medium now accounts for 32% of all online advertisers spend (see UK Online Advertising Enjoys Dramatic Growth).
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