• by Masha Geller , November 20, 2002

As some of the busiest travel days of the year approach, it's very well documented that consumers are turning to the web for tickets, deals and specials, thanks in no small part to the fact that the travel category is the fourth largest industry advertising online.

That’s according to Nielsen//NetRatings, which reports that online travel advertising surged 39% in Q3 2002 to 15.9 billion, as compared to the same time last year – a welcome change in a world of decreases across the board.

According to the Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance service, the travel category made up 6% of the total ad impressions in Q3 2002. Within the travel category, agency booking services comprised the bulk of the impressions, covering 70% of the category's ad impressions.

"Despite the economic difficulty that faced the travel industry in the past year, online travel advertising continues to maintain significant share," said Charles Buchwalter, VP of client analytics at Nielsen//NetRatings. "By cutting out the middleman, travel websites have been able to pass on savings to consumers through increased use of online advertising to promote special sales."

Buchwalter explained that time sensitive online advertising strategies, such as one-day fare sales, have been tremendously successful and the Internet is “the only medium able to garner such immediate results.”

Travelocity's parent company, Sabre Holdings, Inc. led the list of top travel advertisers last quarter, with nearly 4.2 billion ad impressions. USA Interactive, which has controlling interest in both Expedia and Hotels.com, claimed the No. 2 spot with 2.5 billion impressions, while Orbitz posted 1.3 billion. Impressions for the Cendant Corporation totaled 774 million, while the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group rounded out the top 5 travel advertisers with 626 million impressions. Here’s a handy table of the Top Online Ad Industries, by percent share (Q3 2002)

Industry                    Impressions     Percent Share 
                               (000)    of Total Impressions 
Retail Goods & Services      82,426,685          30% 
Financial
Services           51,350,643          19% 
Web Media                    37,641,973          14% 
Travel                       15,943,300           6% 
Hardware & Electronics       14,926,458
5% 
Telecommunications           13,589,237           5% 
Consumer Goods               12,650,314           5% 
Entertainment                11,014,164           4% 
Health
7,664,607           3% 
Public Services               7,619,410           3% 
Business to Business          6,975,253           3% 
Software                      6,307,332           2%

Automotive                    4,338,187           2% 
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, AdRelevance