The Wall Street Journal
"Web Advertising Eclipsed Newspapers in 2010"
By: Nat Worden
We have the results, and web advertising wins, making a return to double-digit percentage increases and beating out newspaper advertising in terms of revenue for the first time. In this article released yesterday, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said that total Web advertisement revenue increased 15% in 2010, reaching $26 billion. In 2009, the industry dove three percent due to the economic downturn. Even though this industry is seeing the light again, the increase in 2010 is only growing at half the rate the industry was seeing before the recession began in 2008.
Nevertheless, the industry has to start somewhere, so they are excited about this turn of events, citing Facebook Inc. and Netflix Inc. and their business as reasons for the upturn. The maturity level that online advertising as reached compares with that of other mediums, so this new form is beginning to gain nods, acknowledgement, and respect. It was said that the increase in revenue during 2010 speaks volumes, showing the power of the Internet in this generation. Also, these numbers show that major brands are beginning to gain confidence in the Internet's power and are more willing to carve a bigger piece of the advertising budget to use online.
As a testament to Google, search remained the largest category for online-ad revenue at 46%, but it is down from 47% last year. It will be interesting to see if this is just a yearly fluctuation or if a new powerhouse will arise in the future. Speaking of Google, it's been interesting over the years to see how many people use Google. I don't have any problem with Google, but I've always used Yahoo! Search. I didn't realize how much of a difference there was until recently when I began to study this in class.
For the first time, mobile advertising was recording during the Interactive Advertising Bureau's annual report. This market is expected to see tremendous growth over the coming years. To me, this seems very obviously, especially when one looks at the dominance that the Apple iPhone and other smart phones have these days. The Apple iPad advertising revenue was also included in the mobile number, which ranged from $550 million to $650 million in 2010.
Because I am in this generation, I don't know what it was like without the Internet or mobile devices. I never studied advertising without considering the Internet. In my lifetime, the question about the lifespan of print has always been asked and debated. What is going to happen? Well, we have watched as print has survived. Now, it may have to keep evolving so that it can stay around longer, but isn't that the name of the game? With each new generation of consumers, companies and industries have to brand themselves for the consumer. The product can still have the "home grown roots" feel to it, but the advertising process will more than likely have multiple elements. I see it as no surprise that online advertising revenue is now ahead of newspaper's revenue, but I don't think this means advertising inside newspapers will completely die out. It will just look differently. Different people buy into a product for different reasons and because of different advertising concepts.
This is interesting news! I still buzz right through internet ads, but of course if they count the Google search things that come to the top, I don't always buzz past those. I guess that's the new face of advertising, in that it's just a Google hit. The advertiser really isn't in control of the message or content so much -- no slick jingle, no slick look, etc.
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