Forrester Goes Against Adspend Gloom Predictions, Forecasts Growth For Dotcom Sector
Forrester Research has gone against the tide of ad revenue slump predictions by forecasting a 74% growth in European dotcom advertising during this year. Despite the month on month fall in online spending during December, the research company is expecting adspend in this sector to reach the equivalent of £750m this year, up from £437m during 2000, thanks to a wider range of advertisers taking to the medium.
According to Forrester’s Internet AdWatch Spending Monitor, total online adspend across Europe’s markets during December 2000 was £24.5m. However, spending in the UK fell from £8.1m during November to £7.8m during the following month. France and Germany also saw month on month drops.
Marc Cohen, European Adwatch manager puts an upbeat spin on this: “In contract to the lower overall online advertising spend, November and December 2000 showed increases in the number of companies advertising, but they were getting lower rates for each ad purchased. In general there is this virtuous circle going on. More people are going online, more people are getting comfortable with spending money online, and more companies are getting money via online channels, so they can spend more on online marketing.”
Consumer goods sites saw the largest increases in adspend at the end of last year, with this category making up 25% of the total spent in the UK. The biggest spender in the UK was Virgin Group, with £221,000, overtaking the Bank of Scotland, which came top in November.
The dotcom sector would be hard pushed to match the furore that surrounded it in early 2000, and Cohen confirms that the sector will need to be patient before seeing the benefits of this year’s growth: “The first half of 2001 will be relatively quiet,” he says, “But by the second half, growth in spending on online advertising will pick up. Although dotcoms are tightening their belts, traditional advertisers are expected to step further into the market.”
Forrester Research: www.forrester.com
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