RSSHow is Internet advertising faring in this bad economy?
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published November 21, 2008, 6:42 PM
With many news services, it's the dire predictions that make the boldest headlines; but if the headline happens to be, "Advertising Growth Declines," then suddenly the news looks a little more...measured.
So the news emerging this week from the Internet Advertising Bureau, which collects information submitted by surveys from members who sell advertising over the Internet in the US, is that the rate of growth in the ad industry has essentially flattened. According to IAB statistics, ad revenue among US-based ad dealers who are members (this should account for Google and AOL's Platform-A, among others) grew to $5.865 billion for the calendar third quarter, up 11% annually over the previous year's Q3.
It's that 11% mark that's not moving, as is indicated by the IAB's explanation: "While double-digit annual growth continues, the quarter-to-quarter curve remains relatively flat compared to recent past performance." It's also not the 20% or even 25% annual growth rate that analysts were projecting for US ad sellers in 2006, for the four-year period hence.
How exactly does this break down? The only way we found this figure makes sense is if you account for US-based dealers whose platforms sell to US-based companies. In its fiscal third quarter ending last September, Google reaped a total of $5.35 billion in revenue from advertising worldwide. With just less than half of that revenue coming from the US, by Google's estimates, about $2.5 billion of that revenue comes from US advertisers.
Granted that the calendar Q3 and Google's fiscal Q3 are not in sync, Google alone still appears to account for 42% of IAB's figures -- this for a group that has some 375 members. Google's own annual revenue growth rate is 31%. So if you take just one player out of the picture, revenues from Google's market partners must be coalescing to bring that growth figure back down to 11%. And that indicates the proverbial glass be less than half-empty.
I hope that it does not fall down or fare badly in the coming days. It is mainly the real estate market along with financial sector which has taken the heat. No doubt other sectors have also been affected. Hope that internet advertising doesn't do badly in the coming days.
Score: 0
|While it may seem counterintuitive to some, when times are lean, this is when MORE advertising, rather than less, should be the plan!
Let's see...we rely on sales...and folks are buying less...and if we just lie low - or lower - they will buy more of our product...Right...
If sales are low- especially if sales are slow due to general market conditions rather than because of lousy customer sat with the product mix, a company needs to take steps to stimulate sales. And aggressive advertising is an important part of that process.
Score: 0
|Companies seem to ignore the single largest online advertising venue available: their own regular external emails. Why not use these emails to market the senders company?
You have a website.
You send emails.
Why not multiply your sales-staff by “wrapping” the regular email in an interactive letterhead?
No other marketing or advertising medium is as targeted as an email between people that know each other (as opposed to mass emails). These emails are always read and typically kept.
Score: 0
|Stop helping, because you're not.
The last thing I need is MORE advertising. I'm trying to block as much as possible already.
Score: 0
|I couldn't agree more.
Score: 0
|It's not to good for other companies but Apple's sales haven't missed a beat. Like I said before, it doesn't matter if no one is the US had a job, people have to have their Macs, iPhones and iPods. There are some brand names that a bad economy never effect and Apple is one of them (Probably the only one!).
Score: 0
|More M&M's are sold than Apple's. In fact on an average there are more M&M's in households than there are Apple's.
Like I said before people like their chocolate!!! No my Friend M&M's are the only one !!!
Score: 0
|"it doesn't matter if no one is the US had a job, people have to have their Macs, iPhones and iPods"
Macs aren't as inelastic in demand as you want to think, at ALL. They are normal goods (demand will decrease as price increases) If no-one has disposable income, they aren't going to choose an expensive computer over let's say...HEATING, or FOOD.
I think you'll find that macs are being outsold by their competitors not because of the anti-mac stuff people like to spit out, but mainly because their competitors are cheaper in the short run.
As for iPods, they are more affordable, and they've made their name almost synonymous with the term "MP3 player", so in this time you can expect iPod to do well, maybe. iPhones, I'm not so sure. I know I wouldn't sign a two year contract in this day and age, don't about the others that fell for the hype.
"There are some brand names that a bad economy never effect and Apple is one of them (Probably the only one!)."
Apple aren't funded by the government; they rely on consumers for their money.
Have you seen a graph of apple's shares lately? It's a negative trend. They *have* been affected, sorry.
Score: 0
|Gay but funny.
Score: 0
|typical response from an APPLE junkie.......
Score: 0
|Depite Apple's stock literally dropping by 50%.
Yup, everyone BUT Apple. Except in this case the exception seems to apply to your lack of awareness of facts.
And with brand new MacBooks that have lost functionality on the low end, and fail to address the new quad core and the forthcoming Nehalem options on the high end and dramarically lose out to units like the Lenovo W700, there are plenty of reasons to fret.
There are a lot of us who were actually looking for a forward facing upgrade strategy and looking for a high end true desktop replacement/portable workstation. Just like many AV designers are as well.
But who needs to invest in a unit that is obsolete almost before it is released?
Oh, yeah, and the whiz bang graphics solution -where Apple is unique in making you log out and in to swap - despite it not being necessary in other units now with the integration of the new more elegant Lucid Hydra graphics solution that allows the load to be spread across both the integrated and add-on GPU...
The new Apple portable lineup - so much promotional noise - so litle substance. MAYBE in the next iteration - IF Jobs gets his head out of his poterior focused soley on phones and actually starts to pay attention to computers - rather than sleeping through the drill.
Score: 0
|