Online Ads Like Portals

Online ads have been good business for the big portals of the Internet, and it doesn’t seem like this will change anytime soon. The respective shares of the pie look a lot like the actual search engine rankings, which means that Google leads once again.

According to eMarketer, Google raked in 25.0% of the total online advertising spending in the U.S. in 2006, while Yahoo! followed behind with an 18.3% share. The divide is expected to nearly double in 2007, with eMarketer forecasting Google to end up with a 32.1% share, and Yahoo! taking an 18.7% share.

Just a few years ago in 2004 the landscape was completely different. Back then, Yahoo! took in a bigger share of online ad spend with 18.4%, while Google trailed with 13.1%. Google (19.2%) drew within a breath of Yahoo! (19.4%) in 2005 before overtaking them last year.

A report released by JupiterResearch confirms eMarketer’s figures by showing that Google took hold of 25% of U.S. online advertising revenue in 2006, while Yahoo! trailed with 15%. AOL (8%) and MSN (7%) fell in line behind the two big portals, while the remaining 45% was shared among various others.

Leadership in paid search advertising revenues is even more pronounced for Google, which led the way with a 58.7% share in 2006, while Yahoo! trailed with 15.0%. This chasm is expected to grow in 2007, with Google taking 75.6% of the pie, and Yahoo! taking 16.3%, according to eMarketer expectations.

Unlike total online advertising revenues, Google has held this top spot for quite some time, which is no surprise to anybody.

Will Yahoo!’s Panama ad platform, combined with its recent acquisition of Right Media, enable the second banana search engine to gain some ground on Google and its newfound DoubleClick acquisition? This is the question of interest in 2007, as the two portals look to continue their dominance in the online advertising realm.

Yahoo!’s agreement with Comcast earlier this week certainly seems to give off good vibes for the portal.

Source:

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1004838