• by May 2, 2001

Among online advertisers, high-tech companies have been more successful in their online advertising strategy than digital economy and traditional companies, according to Nielsen//NetRatings, ACNielsen eRatings.com and NetRatings, Inc.

The latest findings from Nielsen//NetRatings' AdSpectrum service found that a lower exposure to ad campaigns combined with a higher reach resulted in higher click rates.

"Through a low reach, high frequency model, dot-com advertisers have numbed Web surfers by exposing them to the same ads over and over again," said Allen Weiner, VP of analytical services at NetRatings. "This contributes to low click rates and ineffective branding."

The data indicated that a lower reach, the percentage of active Web surfers who saw an ad, combined with a higher frequency rate, the number of times Web surfers viewed an ad banner, resulted in lower click rates.

The high-tech industry garnered the highest reach of 17.1%, the lowest frequency rate of 9.4, and the highest click rate of 0.30%, with traditional companies following at 11.0% reach, 11.6 average frequency and 0.22% click rate.

The digital economy industry scored a low reach of 12.6%, the highest frequency rate at 17.3 and the lowest click rate of 0.16%. Other forms of offline media generally have an average frequency rate of between three and four points.

"Savvy advertisers working with skilled agencies can try to avoid the current ad fatigue by using rich media and the new larger advertising sizes to refresh creatives," said Weiner.

"Since reach is the cornerstone of most branding efforts, the use of the Web for awareness building will be hindered until either networks band together to provide easy purchasing across multiple channels or the pool of channels dwindle, allowing each channel to capture a higher proportion of unique visitors," added Weiner.

Nielsen//NetRatings also said today that traditional offline companies made up more than half of the top 100 advertisers in March 2001, surpassing digital economy companies, according to the latest findings from the AdSpectrum service.

March 2001 research from the Nielsen//NetRatings AdSpectrum service segmented online advertisers by industry: digital economy, including dot-coms (e.g., RedEnvelope), high-tech (e.g., Hewlett-Packard), and traditional (e.g., Procter & Gamble).

The data indicated that traditional offline companies comprised 56% of the top 100 online advertisers last month, including companies such as Walt Disney, Visa and Chevron. Digital economy companies made up 34%, while high-tech companies accounted for the remaining 10%.

Nearly $280 million was spent on online advertising in March and offline brands led the way with new campaigns. Traditional companies spent an estimated $123.3 million, or 44% of the total dollar spent on Web campaigns. Digital economy companies spent $104.8 million, or more than 37% and high-tech companies spent $51.4 million, or 18.4%.

Weiner noted that for the first time, “we see a changing of the guards in the world of online advertising. Traditional offline companies have caused a seismic shift in the sheer number of companies opting to do online campaigns and the amount of money they spend, signaling a healthy forecast for the industry as the year progresses. Recent online campaign announcements from Pepsi, Diet Coke and Ford suggests renewed interest in the medium by traditional advertisers and agencies."

Of the top 100 online advertisers, traditional companies led all other categories in the number of impressions, with more than five billion impressions served in March. Digital economy companies followed closely with 4.3 billion impressions and high-tech companies served more than two billion during the month.

The top five advertisers in the traditional category consisted of financial services companies. Equifax, a financial credit reporting service, led with 636 million impressions served, followed by Providian Bank, with nearly 504 million impressions.

In the digital economy category, Yahoo! had more than 554 million impressions, while AOL Time Warner served up nearly 512 million impressions. Microsoft dominated the high-tech category, leading with more than 1.2 billion impressions served in March. Software manufacturer, Bonzi.com followed with more than 284 million impressions.

"No other medium in history provides the immediacy, interaction and precise targeting that the Web offers," added Weiner. "The burden will be on the creative folks to learn how to use the Web effectively and make lasting impressions."