• by Paul Gough , December 12, 2003

When DoubleClick's Kevin Ryan attended Wall Street conferences two years ago, he said he didn't think that the online advertising sector was going to grow for another year or two.

That was then, soon after the dot-com bubble burst. But this is now, and the chief executive officer of the New York-based interactive advertising company had a more upbeat prediction when he presented to investors and analysts at Thursday morning's Credit Suisse First Boston conference in New York City.

"You will see steady, solid, good growth in online advertising for the foreseeable future," Ryan said. "It won't be as hyped as it was; it will just be good growth. Rich media will be a big component; paid listings will be a big component."

Of these two biggest trends in Internet advertising, Ryan said that DoubleClick is well-positioned in rich media, thanks to the introduction a month ago of DART Motif, its rich-media product. Ad management is already a $30 million-a-year business for DoubleClick, as its DART products serve advertisers, agencies, and publishers.

"We're planning to be one of the biggest players in rich media," Ryan said. Revenues will start to kick in next year for Motif, and although DoubleClick isn't ready to give specifics, he said it would be several million dollars' worth.

On the other hand, Ryan doesn't think that DoubleClick is going to be a big player in paid listings, because they offer less opportunity for the company.

Ryan said the fundamentals of online advertising are very good, and he predicts that the improvement will continue. But one obstacle to growth is the gap between how many people are using the Internet and how many advertising dollars are being spent in the medium. Ryan said the gaps always look big in the beginning, such as television in 1965 and cable TV in 1985: There were a lot of people using the mediums at that point, but not as much money being spent by advertisers. That's going to change, Ryan said.

"Ultimately, advertisers follow eyeballs," he said.

One big factor in this process is that advertisers are beginning to use the Internet for branding. These advertisers once loved TV, and believed it was more effective for products like soap and toothpaste. But now, as some sectors of the audience - he mentioned 22-year-olds - are watching less TV, advertising that runs only on TV will not reach all potential customers.