• by March 1, 2004

Nielsen//NetRatings' AdRelevance reported that the online advertising sector, excluding the search segment, delivered a robust 280 billion impressions in the fourth quarter of 2003. The figure was included in a report released Monday by DoubleClick and Nielsen//NetRatings. The report also revealed that online ad spending for the first quarter of 2003 increased 11 percent--outpacing TV ad spending, which rose just three percent. And while online ad spending rose just six percent by the third quarter of last year, it still managed to eclipse a meager 3.5 percent increase in TV ad spending.

The Year in Online Advertising Report drew on DoubleClick data from online publishers, marketers, and ad agencies that use third-party ad serving, which was supplemented by data from Nielsen Monitor-Plus (measures offline spending), and Nielsen//NetRatings' Ad Relevance (measures online spending). "Last year marked the first time that large traditional advertisers began to spend more online," said Charles Buchwalter, VP-client analytics, Nielsen//NetRatings.

Some category highlights include the automotive segment, which the report found to have the largest increase on an impression basis--74.9 percent year- over-year. Telecommunications experienced 31.2 percent growth year-over- year, while retail increased impressions by 8.7 percent. The report noted that retail also showed a decrease in impressions. The report said that online advertising accounts for 48.5 percent of business proposition and employment recruiting ad spending, while in the travel category, 15.4 percent of all spending is now online.

Telecom and financial services proved their commitment to the online medium by upping their marketing investments. For example, the report noted that SBC Communications increased its online marketing investment by 168.1 percent year-over-year; AT&T Wireless (21.3 percent); and Verizon (5.6 percent). Ameritrade increased its online spend by 22.8 percent; BankOne (11.9 percent); Scottrade (26.7 percent); Ameriquest (352.7 percent); and Citigroup (3.8 percent).

Rich media ad formats were adopted by many marketers in 2003. Nielsen//NetRatings' AdRelevance estimates that rich media usage grew 223 percent last year, to represent 17.4 percent of all ads. Within DoubleClick's system, rich media grew to nearly 40 percent of all ads served by the fourth quarter of 2003. Fortune 500 advertisers accounted for 45.5 percent of all rich media advertising usage in the first quarter of 2003, and 38.8 percent in the fourth quarter. DoubleClick reported that advertiser usage of pop-ups and pop-unders accounted for less than two percent of all ads served within its system, while AdRelevance found that they fluctuated between 5 and 7 percent of the total market.

Overall, the Internet Advertising Bureau reported that ad spending grew 20 percent year-over-year to $7.2 billion in 2003.