Online advertising up a third in 2004
And leapfrogs heady days of dotcom boom.
By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service | Published: 10:35, 29 April 2005
Online ad spend jumped a third last year, with ads linked to search engines the most popular category for the second straight year.
Internet advertising revenue in the US reached $9.63 billion in 2004, up 33 percent from 2003, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and commissioned by the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
Moreover, 2004 broke the annual revenue record set in 2000, further proof that online ad spending has roared back after difficult times in 2001 and 2002. Online ad revenue has increased in eight of the past nine quarters.
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In 2004, online ads tied to search-engine activities grew 50 percent over 2003 to $3.9 billion. This represented 40 percent of 2004's total revenue, making search the largest single category of online ads. This category includes paid listings, which are text ads that appear when a user enters a related query in a search engine. Advertisers pay only when someone clicks on their ad, which is typically linked to their website. Paid listings make up most of Google's revenue.
Display ads made up the second-largest category, contributing 19 percent of 2004's total revenue, followed by classified ads with 18 percent. A common type of display ad is a banner ad, while classified ads include employment listings and auction-based listings, such as the ones on eBay.
Within the overall US advertising market, the online segment made up 3.7 percent of total revenue in 2004. It ranked below market leader direct mail ($50.1 billion), newspapers ($46.2 billion), broadcast and syndicated television ($33.5 billion), radio ($20.7 billion), cable television ($15.8 billion) and consumer magazines ($12.4 billion), and ahead of business magazines ($7.5 billion) and outdoor advertising ($5.9 billion).
