• Adweek, Sunday, September 26, 2010 11:33 PM

The Web generated $22 billion in 2009 in the U.S. alone, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Yet a huge chunk of that -- 65 percent in 2009, according to eMarketer -- is in direct response advertising rather than the brand-building efforts that define larger media like TV. Just look at the top advertisers online vs. on broadcast TV: The online list is dominated by DR advertisers like Experian, Scottrade and NexTag. TV, meanwhile, is a Who's Who of branding, including Pfizer, General Motors and Procter & Gamble.

"We need to concede that going back 15 years, without meaning to or thinking about it, we fundamentally created the medium to be a direct response medium," said Randall Rothenberg, CEO of the IAB. Web advertising's greatest strength -- the ability to track customer response through clicks -- is a double-edged sword.

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