Net Ads Maturation
November 19 2001
Britain's overall Internet advertising market during the first half of 2001 notched a notable year-on-year increase of £26 million (up 42%). This is according to the latest data from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) research for the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).
The ad spend figures are thought to be unusually robust and reliable as a source. They are based on revenues submitted by the finance departments of online media companies to the management consultants, and are processed centrally. The IAB claims that this makes them the only authoritative financial source of UK online advertising.
The report's other key points include:
- Internet advertising was the only advertising sector to show double digit growth over the first 6 months of the year. Most advertising sectors contracted over the same period.
- Banners continue to represent the largest component of advertising revenue - still generating the most revenues.
- However, there is real development of additional media formats such as tenancies, nested content, interstitials and sponsorships. All of these types are demonstrating real incremental growth, reflecting the changes occurring in the US market.
- By sector, there are significant changes in spending patterns with Automotive, FMCG, Financial Services and Retail relatively strong. At the same time, ad spend in the Entertainment, Media, Technology and Telecoms sectors has all declined. Again, this is believed to reflect changes in share in the US market.
IAB chairman/CEO Danny Meadows-Klue noted that, "Adspend in the first half of this year increased massively compared to the first half of 2000. Online is now fixed in the media schedules for brand campaigns and the range of new standards have made the industry an efficient and easy buy."
Meadows-Klue has also commented that the sector's growth is due to "effective targeting and the unparalleled accountability of online," while stressing that the IAB deals only in actuals and does not publish forecasts. The figures are "real money, not estimates or conjectMRS Conference 2002 Info & Registrationerial cash reported by the finance directors of these companies."
PricewaterhouseCoopers' Paul Pilkington concluded that, "In the context of the overall market, the majority of advertising sectors are contracting. But online is performing better than the sector average and the UK online market performed ahead of US where revenues fell by eight percent."
All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.
