• by Paul Gough , December 9, 2003

Far from being the dot-gone that we all thought it was after the crash of 2001, it looks like advertising spending by dot-coms is actually on the rise for the first time since the end of the boom.

In making his annual forecast at Monday's opening session of UBS Warburg's 31st Annual Media Week Conference in New York City, Universal McCann's Bob Coen noted that for the first time since 2000, consumer advertising by dot-com's has actually increased. Coen estimated that dot-com companies spent $2.2 billion on advertising in 2003, up 2.3 percent from 2002.

Of course, that's nothing compared to the high-water mark of 2000, when Coen said dot-coms spent $5.59 billion. But it's better than the past two years of declines, a 52 percent drop to $2.66 billion in 2001 and another 19 percent drop to $2.15 billion in 2002.

While it's true that many of the dot-coms that fueled the boom aren't in business anymore, Coen said the mantle is being picked up by the survivors and some new companies.

"It looks like it is a sector that is re-expanding, and it's another source of competition for traditional advertisers," Coen told the UBS Warburg conference.

--Paul J. Gough