Record Online Adspend For First Half Of 2005

Commenting on the figures, Greg Stuart, president and chief executive officer of the IAB said: “It is clear from this continued growth, that most agencies and marketers are now committed to interactive as a critical medium in reaching their audience, as well as engaging them in more immersive brand experiences.”

He continued: “At the end of the day, it’s about increased effectiveness from your marketing dollars and interactive delivers this.”

David Silverman, partner at PwC added: “This consistent growth in overall revenues shows marketers may be shifting more of their total advertising budgets to online. This is a natural development as research shows more consumers are spending a larger percentage of their media time online, while the flow of advertising dollars follows.”

The figures for the second quarter of 2005 show that marketers have recognised the internet as an effective response and branding vehicle for reaching their target audience.

These findings are confirmed with research published at the beginning of the month by online magazine, Direct, claiming that marketers are shifting their adspend onto the internet, with 60% planning to raise their online advertising expenditure in 2006 (see Consumers Predict Mobile TV To Enjoy Popularity).

Direct’s new 2005 Online Marketing Survey shows that marketers are allotting 41% of marketing budgets to online channels this year, taking money away from traditional direct marketing channels. The survey found that marketers allocated 75% for the old channels last year, compared to just 59% this year.

eMarketer’s latest projections confirm online adspend’s expected strong growth, forecasting it to surpass the $10 billion mark for the first time this year, reaching $12.9 billion by the end of 2005 (see US Online Adspend To Hit $12.9 Billion In 2005).

The analyst forecasts that in four years time, companies will spend nearly $10 billion more on internet advertising, hitting a total of $22.3 billion in 2009.