Internet advertising in the US totalled over $2.8 billion for the first quarter of 2005, resulting in the highest reported quarter in nine consecutive growth quarters.
According to the latest figures released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Q1 2005 revenues represent a 26% increase over Q1 2004 and a 4.3% rise over Q4 2004.
Commenting on online adspend growth, Greg Stuart, president and chief executive officer of the IAB said: “Marketers continue to recognise the relevance of interactive as an integral part of their marketing mix.
“The continued and steady growth we have experienced over the past two years is a clear indication that this medium delivers results and is fast becoming accepted as part of the mainstream.”
Tom Hyland, partner and new media group chair of PwC continued: ” While the online audience gets bigger and broader, the TV audience continues to fragment, even as the cost of advertising spots rise.”
Hyland added: “Add the growth of broadband in the home, which enables advertisers a platform to deliver rich media, and brand advertisers have a new mass audience to target. The economics are too compelling for marketers to ignore.”
Recent figures released by TNS Media Intelligence confirm online advertising strong growth in the first three months of 2005, showing online adspend to be up by 8.2% year on year (see US Adspend Up By 4.4% In Q1 2005).
Overall adspend in the US was shown to fair so less well. Despite being up by 4.4% year on year, reaching $33.5 billion, TNS revealed that this was the smallest increase since the end of 2003.
Online advertising is predicted to perform strongly in 2005, with industry experts forecasting the medium to continue growing.
Financial services company, Goldman Sachs, has predicted 2005 to be a bullish year for online advertising, forecasting the market to increase by 28% year on year, to reach $12.3 billion (see Goldman Sachs Predicts Online Adspend To Rise By 28% In 2005).
Forecasts released earlier this month by Forrester Research are more optimistic than Goldman Sachs, predicting online adspend to reach $14.7 billion this year, a 23% increase on its 2004 estimates (see US Online Ad and Marketing Spend To Reach $14.7 Billion in 2005).
Market analyst eMarketer’s predictions are closer to Goldman Sachs’, projecting online advertising to hit $12.9 billion in 2005, a 34% rise on eMarketer’s 2004 forecast (see Online Adspend To Hit $13 Billion In 2005).
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