The following e-mail will be sent on your behalf.

 has sent the following story to you from ElectricNews.net.

The story is available from https://electricnews.net/news.html?code=7607858

Internet ad slump matches off line media 
Friday, May 24 2002
by Andrew McLindon


The US on-line advertising market fell by 12 percent during 2001 reflecting the
trend in more traditional media.





 



According to the Internet Ad Revenue Report, Internet advertising for 2001 in the
US totalled USD7.2 billion, which was down sharply on revenues generated by the
sector in 2000. The report also showed revenue in the fourth quarter of 2001 was
USD1.7 billon, a fall of 7.5 percent from the previous quarter. 



 

However, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), which sponsors the report,
said that such weak revenues were "not unexpected" given the falls in ad spend
on traditional media over the last year and claimed that when compared to other
data sources, the results for the Internet market actually compare favourably
with other sectors. 



 

For example, data compiled by eMarketer shows that CMR The Myers Report and
McCann Erickson all rate the decline in ad revenue for broadcast television at
11.8 percent, 12 percent and 13.8 percent respectively for 2001, the IAB said in
a statement. "Additionally, national spot radio decreased by 20.4 percent
according to CMR and 19.4 percent according to McCann in 2001."

 



The IAB also said it would be a mistake to compare on-line ad spend in 2001 to
that in 2000 due to the latter being a "banner year for all advertising
sectors." In addition, it commented that the decline of the American economy in
2001 and the aftermath of 11 September, which saw advertisers virtually halt
their activities for a month, had also impacted on the results for the last year.
 

 

Greg Stuart, IAB's president and chief executive officer, said that he expected
the market to pick up during 2002 and as proof pointed to a recent report from
Thomas Weisel Partners that predicted that 71 percent of the leading on-line ad
sellers will be profitable in 2002, which compares with 42 percent in 2001. 





Colin Joyce, the spokesperson for IAB in Ireland, told ElectricNews.Net that he
expected the Irish on-line ad market to have actually grown in 2001, mainly due
to an increased number of advertisers using the medium. However, as Joyce noted,
the Irish market is some 18 months behind the US Internet advertising market and
it not as well developed.

 

IAB figures show that on-line ad revenue in Ireland in Q3 2001 was EUR1.5 million
and Joyce predicted that figures for Q1 and Q2 in 2002 would show "significant
growth" in the market here. Figures for Q4 2001 are due to be released by the
Irish branch of IAB in the coming weeks.

 

"The Irish market in 2002 will grow rapidly on last year as advertising budgets
begin to be freed-up and more companies realise the benefits of Internet
advertising," said Joyce. 

 

The IAB's Internet Ad Revenue report, which is carried out and complied by
PricewaterhouseCoopers, also found that the most popular ad formats during 2001
were banner ads (36 percent of ad spend), sponsorships (26 percent) and
classifieds (16 percent). The new breed of on-line ads such as interstitials and
superstitials accounted for less than five percent of the total spend.