Contrary Outlook: Online Ad Forecast Positive

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Growth of the Internet ad spend has risen quickly for several years, though many recent ad spending reports and forecasts show signs of a slowdown in the growth rate. An IDC Quarterly Wrap-Up Model report of the U.S. online advertising market details an advertising increase in spending, while slightly slower than in years past.

For the second quarter of 2008, there was a 20.1 percent increase in online advertising spending, totaling $7.01 billion, up from $5.84 billion in the same period the previous year.
A recent report from the IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers shows a 1.7 percent drop in ad revenue in the first three months of 2008 compared to the last three months of 2007. ZenithOptimedia shows a more positive global outlook than for the U.S. market.

"When you read media accounts at what online advertising is doing, they are very downcast," said Karsten Weide, program director, Digital Media and Entertainment. "The truth is if you look at the numbers, they are not all true." He said the growth is slower, but it is still growing at roughly 20 percent per quarter.