Internet Advertising

Internet Advertising

The November cover story for Newsweek was entitled “e-life” and the issue was dedicated to the many ways that the Internet is changing our lives and work. While the changes have affected many industries and many jobs, one of the biggest changes in marketing and sales is the rapid and unpredictable growth of Internet-based sales and advertising. Currently, many users benefit from the use of “free” email sites and Web-search portals, all of which are funded by revenues from banner advertising. (Sadly for these advertisers, many are increasingly able to ignore this stimulus). All types of businesses now want to reach an audience that is more consistently “logged on” to the Internet. If the Internet is where the customers are to be found, then that is where advertisers must go. While many of us are acutely aware of this fact, few of us know enough about how to place ads, what types of ads are available, and how the industry is changing. This paper is dedicated to understanding this topic further.

The Context: Who Is Spending On Ads and How Much?

In 1997, businesses spent $600 million on Internet advertising, and Internet ad spending rose to $1 billion in 1998.[1] To put these numbers in context, it is useful to compare the growth in Web advertising to the growth in non-Web advertising[2]:

Year

Web Advertising Spending $

Non-Web Ad Spending $

1997

600M

133 Trillion

1998

1B

155 Trillion

Such a table indicates clearly that Internet ad spending doubled while non-Web spending grew by 17%, and these numbers give marketers some sense of the urgency and immediacy of the need to learn about Web-based advertising. Interestingly, marketers have caught on: studies show that total I...

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...arketers in cyberspace are: consider what type of ads you want to place, consider carefully how you plan to measure success of your campaign- attempt to monitor mindshare as well as final sales.

[1] www.computerworld.com, BancAmerica Corp., Robertson, Stephens & Co. Date posted: Feb. 23, 1998

[2] Ibid. Source: Veronis Suhler & Associates and BancAmerica Corp., Robertson, Stephens & Co. estimates (12/97)

[3] Ibid.

[4] Internet Advertising Bureau, December 29, 1997.

[5] Internet.about.com/business/Internet/library/weekly/1999/aa061499.htm?iam=dp&rf=dp, Dateline: 06/14/99

[6] www.adres.Internet.com

[7] www.blueplatypus.com, “interstitial ads” search.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Internet.about.com/business/Internet/library/weekly/1999/aa061499.htm?iam=dp&rf=dp

Dateline: 06/14/99

[11] adres.Internet.com/primer/article/0,1401,,00.html