According to the Internet Advertising Bureau, Internet advertising was down in the second quarter by 4.1%. But the first half is 22% below the first half of 2001.
Keyword-based search ads grew from 3 percent to 9 percent of ad spending, and “niche ad formats” (i.e. “rich media”) grew from 9 percent to 12 percent of overall revenues.
Top categories:
computing 19%
financial services 14%
media 12%
telecom 7%
These are categories that mostly sold by direct marketing, instead of brand advertising. It’s another indication that the current mini-trend toward to rich media is a move in the wrong direction.
Online advertising is highly concentrated. The top ten media outlets took in 76 percent of all revenues, and the top 50 got 97 percent. Most media sites are not in the top 50. How are they going to pay the bills?