Both Publicis and Interpublic made considerable noise about the expansion of their base in online and digital media – Publicis going so far as to assert that 25% of its revenues would come from
online and/or mobile marketing by 2010 – but a highly regarded firm tracking those media says they’re beginning to plateau. “US marketers will continue to shift their spending into online
advertising in 2007. Despite this, growth in US online ad spending will be lower than it has been for the last three years, dropping from annual rates of over 30% to just under 19% in 2007 for a total
of $19.5 billion,†online industry tracker eMarketer says in a new report released this morning. While that’s still not bad, it suggests that online ad expenditures will grow only at about
two-thirds the rate they have been expanding, raising questions about where the major agency holding companies think all their digital growth is going to come from. “The fundamental shift will
not abate for several years, and by 2011, U.S. marketers will spend $36.5 billion on online advertising, about 10% of their total media budget. Presumably, Publicis plans to have a greater share of
the ones spending more than that.
