• by Masha Geller , February 8, 2002

Well, the Olympics are starting tonight, but I have to admit I haven’t seen any Olympics-related ads on the web. Have you? Compared to the weeks leading up to the SuperBowl, when the web was flooded with information and ads about Superbowl.com and the official NFL websites, there’s really been very little promoting the Olympics online.

The only thing I can recall is a recent CNET article, which bemoans the fact that Internet programming has “taken one step forward and one step back since the last contest.”

According to the article, the International Olympic Committee has approved tests for online video broadcasting of the games, which may “open the door to a richer Web experience in future contests,” but “consumers shouldn't expect a front-row cyberseat at the Games anytime soon.”

Reportedly, primary online coverage will be provided by MSNBC, which is hosting the official Olympics.com website, and NBCOlympics.com will support U.S. TV coverage.

Interestingly enough, the lack of online Olympic presence this year may have been influenced by the past. During the Sydney Games, NBCOlympics.com drew 4.4 million U.S. visitors, according to NetRatings, and the now defunct Quokka Sports, which contained extensive original reporting on each event, registered such negligible traffic to the site that Jupiter Media Metrix called it a "non-event" on the Web.

MSNBC, according to the CNET article, promises Web traffic will be much higher than that for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney - organizers are forecasting up to 20 million unique visitors worldwide to the official sites this year.

For advertisers’ sake, I hope they make good on that promise.