• by September 27, 2005

It's no secret that the online sector is booming. And you, dear readers, have a front-row seat to witness this trend firsthand. As the economy hums along and digital media businesses, technologies, and content properties grow, we take a look this month at the long-term outlook for the interactive industry. omma contributor Lynn Russo delivers a comprehensive online forecast.

As we went to press, TNS Media Intelligence reported that total advertising expenditures for the first half of 2005 increased 4.5 percent over the same period in 2004, to $70.5 billion. Online display advertising increased 9.4 percent for the first half of 2005 to $3.9 billion, outpacing the overall ad market. Not a bad haul for a medium that struggled to get on marketers' radar screens only three years ago.

We also highlight four campaigns in which online media and marketing took center stage -- a theme, no doubt, that many of you will hear more about at MediaPost's OMMA East Conference and Expo in New York September 27-28. The four cross-media portraits of Audi, Converse, McDonald's, and Samsung exemplify marketers that are taking risks to thoroughly embed online creative ideas in their campaigns.

With this issue, we inaugurate a new design thanks to Jonathan McEwan, our talented art director, who takes pride in coming up with precisely the right visual solutions no matter the obstacle. Of course I would be remiss if I didn't cite assistant managing editor Jennifer Coleman, a problem-solver who juggles many tasks and is always pleasant, and Nathaniel Pollard, assistant art director, who creates imaginative layouts.

You will notice a new front-of-the-book section dubbed "RAM" for Random Access Mode. It's designed to offer glimpses into tools, information, and intelligence that can help online media and marketing professionals do their jobs better. We hope you will find the new OMMA an insightful resource.