• TV Week, Friday, August 29, 2008 11:15 AM

The Internet is not yet a replacement for television, said experts in politics and advertising at a forum at the Democratic National Convention. "The Internet is moving exponentially, but it's still not TV," said Joe Trippi, campaign strategist for Howard Dean and John Edwards.

The number of people who go to the Internet for campaign content still represents just about 10% of voters. Peter Greenberger, Google director, admitted that detailed research on the effectiveness of political ads on the Web is still in its infancy, and it isn't clear if Web ads translate into votes. But data shows that, in general, people who register to vote because of Web ads do vote.

Other forum speakers noted that candidates might have no choice but to look beyond TV because more people are using digital video recorders and skipping commercials. Like other advertisers, politicians will eventually need to look at online alternatives.

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