Online Heads for 10% of Total US Ad Spend: eMarketer

When the going gets tough…

MARCH 31, 2008 – Sub-prime mortgage meltdowns. Floundering credit markets. Burst housing bubbles. Trillions wasted in war. Gold hitting $1,000. Tumbling stock markets. Falling payrolls. Oil at record highs. The dollar at record lows.

Is it any wonder that�even in a year of the Olympics and a presidential election�US advertising is struggling?

Almost all US advertising, anyway.

In the midst of the doldrums, like the Energizer Bunny, Internet advertising is still going strong.

�Even if its rate of growth is declining slightly,� says David Hallerman, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new report, US Online Advertising: Resilient in a Rough Economy. �US online advertising is proving to be far more robust than other media channels.�

eMarketer predicts that this year online advertising will grow to nearly $25.9 billion and account for 8.8% of total US ad spending.

�Even more impressively,� says Mr. Hallerman, �in 2009 online advertising will reach $30 billion and account of fully 10% of all US ad spending.�

It is important to note that even as growth rates decline through 2009, overall Internet ad spending increases will remain in positive territory, the mid-teens or higher through 2011.

�This growth, even if less than before, will surpass all other major media,� says Mr. Hallerman.

Don�t make the mistake of thinking the Internet is impervious to downward economic pressures, however.

�Whatever label you slap on the current economic climate, US ad spending both online and offline will be shaped by overarching business trends,� says Mr. Hallerman. �While Internet ad spending is in no way immune to a recession�s impact, it is more resistant to ad spending cutbacks than are other media.�

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