• by Masha Geller , March 19, 2002

Do online ads reach business leaders effectively? Yes, they most certainly do. At least according to the latest Forbes.com survey of 286 C-level executives, all registered users of Forbes.com. The survey confirms that they use the Web frequently and actually pay attention to the ads.

The survey was conducted earlier this year by Research.net and found that C-level executives spend an average of 16 hours a week on the Web, nearly twice the time spent with TV (8.6 hours), and nearly three times the amount spent with magazines (6.6 hours) newspapers (6.6 hours) and radio (5.7 hours).

More importantly, 62% say advertising on the Web provides rich information, compared with 62% for magazines and 16% for TV; and 62% say ads on the Web help them make buying decisions, compared with 62% for magazines and 28% for TV.

Here are some additional findings:

64% of respondents visit 8 or more websites a month in search of business information and 60% spend more time at business sites than any other sites they visit.

65% find TV ads most innovative, compared with 58% for the Web and 36% for magazines.

73% of respondents use the Web to find out about new products, compared with 57% for magazines, 29% for newspapers, 20% for TV and 8% for radio.

"Online advertising is as good as or better than advertising in other media," says James Spanfeller, Forbes.com president/CEO. “You can reach them online and if you do they pay attention to the advertising and make decisions about buying products."