According to numbers released late last week by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, online advertising revenues in the U.S. were $5.5 billion in the first quarter of 2009, reflecting a 5 percent drop from the same period last year.
The total for the first quarter was approximately 10 percent less than the $6.1 billion in ad revenue observed in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Given interactive advertising’s traction with consumers, it “continues to gain share of marketing spend,” according to Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB. “We’re confident that growth will resume as the U.S. economic climate improves. Interactive advertising is the most accountable way to reach consumers – and in this economy, digital media will be a core component of any successful marketing campaign.”
David Silverman, PwC Assurance partner, added that the recession has affected Internet advertising less than other media channels.
Though the economy is proving to be a definite challenge, “interactive media continues to consume a larger piece of the overall advertising pie,” Silverman said.
Total online advertising revenue in 2008 was $23.4 billion, an 11 percent increase from $21.2 billion in 2007.
According to a recent report released by Nielsen, overall ad spending in the U.S. sagged 12 percent year-over-year to $27.9 billion in the first quarter in 2009.
Print media was hit the hardest as its ad sales plummeted 27.7 percent at national newspapers and fell 20.6 percent at national magazines.
Syndicated television ad spending dropped 18.8 percent in the first quarter, while network TV ad sales declined 4.8 percent.
Nielsen pegged the decline in online ad sales at 3.4 percent in the first quarter.
The first quarter marked the first time the initial quarter of the year reflected a year-over-year decline since ad revenues slipped in the first quarter of 2002 compared to the same quarter of 2001. This occurred during the bursting of the Internet bubble.
In the first quarter of 2008, ad revenues were $5.8 billion, an 18 percent year-over-year increase from $4.9 billion in the first quarter of 2007.
Sources:</strong
http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-060509
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=020001BZDSZW
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=107416
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