Dell Inc. Tops In Online Ads

With 4.94 billion ad impressions, Dell Inc. delivered the most online ads in June, July, and August, according to data compiled by Nielsen//NetRatings. Dell was followed by InterActive Corporation (the holding company for Expedia.com, Ticketmaster, Hotels.com, and Citysearch) at 4.92 billion. AT&T Wireless Services Inc. (4.53 billion), Netflix (4.46 billion), and LowerMyBills.com (4.20 billion) rounded out the top five.

The largest advertiser in August alone was SBC Communications, with 1.644 billion impressions. Nearly two out of three of those--63 percent--were intended to drive sales, said Nielsen//NetRatings Senior Analyst Corey Jeffrey. Thirty-six percent were intended to drive traffic to its Web site, and just a sliver were for branding/awareness. Jeffrey said the vast majority of the ads served were leaderboards. Of the 63 percent of ads intended to drive sales, 922 million were served on Yahoo!'s network. For the traffic initiatives, Jeffrey said that, again, nearly all the ads were served on Yahoo!

AT&T, with 1.633 billion August impressions, was the second-biggest advertiser in August. More than half--54 percent--were intended to drive traffic to its Web site, and 38 percent were intended to drive awareness, with a negligible amount devoted to sales. Of the traffic initiatives, 722 million of AT&T's purchases appeared on Yahoo! and MSN; 606 million of the awareness campaign ads also appeared on Yahoo! and MSN. Again, the vast majority of ads served were leaderboards.

Dell, the third-largest advertiser in August, broke its campaigns down to 63 percent to drive sales, 24 percent to drive traffic, and 14 percent to drive awareness. Dell used a mix of full-banner, rectangle, buttons, and leaderboards served across several Web properties. Yahoo! hosted 249 million of its sales-driven ads, followed by AT&T WorldNet, 172 million, and MSN, 98 million. For traffic to site, the Excite network hosted 121 million, followed by AT&T WorldNet, 49 million, and Juno, 43 million. Almost all of the branding initiatives were served to EarthLink, which hosted 175 million.

NetRatings' Jeffrey said that traditional brands are "acquiescing to the voice of consumers" by using banners, buttons, and leaderboards instead of pop-ups and pop-unders. But, he said, "B-list companies not concerned with their brand equity" continue to use the much-hated pop-ups and pop-unders because users tend to click on them--even while complaining that the ads are distracting.

The top parent companies ranked by impressions, month after month, are always the usual suspects: Microsoft, Yahoo!, Time Warner, Google, eBay, InterActive, and Amazon, followed by the top brands: MSN, Yahoo!, Microsoft, AOL, Google, eBay, MapQuest, Amazon, Real, and weather.com. "Those brands are so deeply entrenched that it's hard for them to move their own needle," Jeffrey said, noting that it's nearly impossible for a new brand to come in, drop billions of impressions, and break these ranks.

Top 10 Advertisers Ranked By August '04 Impressions


                             Impressions

SBC Communications         1,644,802,000  
AT&T Wireless              1,633,821,000  
Dell                             1,614,113,000  
InterActiveCorp            1,574,170,000

MatchNet                   1,477,530,000  
Netflix                    1,464,742,000  
Fun Web Products           1,396,927,000  
LoanLinks.com              1,275,308,000  
Apollo Group
1,088,124,000  
LowerMyBills.com           1,085,869,000

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings' AdRelevance
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