Commentary

This Just In: Internet Ad Spending To Approach $65 Billion Next Year

by Joe Mandese @mp_joemandese, September 21, 2009

Thatâ€™s the global online ad estimate for 2010, according to the latest forecast from WPPâ€™s GroupM Interaction unit. At that rate, digital media will account for 15% of all ad spending, up from 13% this year.

The U.S. share will be slightly more robust for digital media: 17% (or $24.4 billion in online advertising dollars).

â€œThe hike is being sparked by ad spending increases in both search and mobile and a continuing ad spending decline in traditional media,â€ the GroupM release notes, adding that, â€œInternet ad spending has outperformed all other media throughout the recession of the past year and into the current recovery.â€

Most of the U.S. growth is driven by search and video, which compensates for declines in Internet display advertising and sponsorships. Again, the report indicated that most of the U.S. growth will be fueled by sharp declines in traditional print advertising, particularly newspapers.

"For several years the focus has been on the rapid rise of Google and the implications of its auction based pricing to advertisers and agencies,â€ states Rob Norman, CEO of GroupM Interaction. Â â€œToday, search remains a key driver of digital marketing as advertisers compete to capture a disproportionate share of the intention that search behavior represents. Now, however, the importance of influencing the organic listings has increased significantly, as has the focus on creating and capturing intent expressed in social media and micro-blogging actions. Search marketing is becoming intention marketing and is moving beyond results pages to activating and responding to the social graph."