Online advertising experienced a surge in popularity during October, with a new report from Nielsen//NetRatings finding that online advertisers enjoyed 124.5 billion display impressions, up from 110.2 billion in September.
Financial service providers were found to account for the largest share of the market at 21%, up from 19% this time last year, while telecoms accounted for 16% of online adverts and web media 16%.
Elsewhere, a report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that internet users continue to use online search engines, with 41% of respondents claiming to have visited a search engine the previous day.
The report asserts that heavy use of search engines correlates with broadband connections, with 70% of those surveyed who have broadband at home and work saying they used a search engine the day before the survey, compared to just 33% of those with dial-up connections.
Search use is also shown to correspond with affluence, with 52% of web users in households earning at least $75,000 using search engines, compared to just 29% of those with household incomes of less than $30,000.
Looking towards 2006, industry reports predict marketing channels to be strongly influenced by the internet, with 24/7 Real Media forecasting search engine marketing to reinvent itself as a lead-generation channel, as well as more interactive methods of advertising (see Search Engine Marketing To Enjoy Popularity Surge In 2006).
Online advertising expenditure is increasing at impressive speeds, with the latest figures from the IAB and PwC showing US internet advertising revenues to have reached a total of $3.1 billion in the third quarter of 2005, marking the highest quarter on record reported and showing quarterly online adspend to have surpassed $3 billion for the first time (see US Online Adspend Surpasses $3 Billion In Q3 2005).
The figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) represent a 33.9% increase over Q3 2004’s total of $2.3 billion and a rise of 4.7 % over Q2 2005.
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