• The Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, January 2, 2008 11:45 AM

Merrill Lynch predicts overall ad spending in the U.S. for 2008 will grow 2.3%, while the portion of that spending on the Web will increase 18%. As the Internet continues to emerge as a major marketing medium, clients are calling on agencies to change the way that they operate.

Among the developing trends to watch this year: 1. Advertisers want a "media-agnostic" approach--one that picks whatever medium is best for the ad campaign; 2. Television screens are increasingly popping up in grocery and department store aisles, elevators and even gas pumps; 3. A growing number of agencies are having researchers spend long periods of time with consumers to find out more about how they live; 4. Some observers predict a backlash from consumers who question whether companies are living up to their promises to be green; 5. Privacy issues--combined with the fact that consumers have only so much free time--could dampen the boom in social networking on the Web.

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