GroupM Sees Internet Ad Gains

NEW YORK: Internet advertising will account for 15 percent of the global ad pie in 2010, according to GroupM, up from an estimated 13 percent this year.

The figure represents an estimated $64.7 billion globally, an 11-percent increase over the previous year’s total. Drivers include ad spending increases in both search and mobile, coupled with the decline in traditional media. In the U.S., Internet advertising will take 17 percent of total spending next year with $24.4 billion, up from 13.9 percent in 2008 and 15.4 percent this year. Search and video are leading the U.S. growth, compensating for declines in Internet display advertising and sponsorships. 

"For several years the focus has been on the rapid rise of Google and the implications of its auction based pricing to advertisers and agencies,” said Rob Norman, the CEO of GroupM Interaction. “Today, search remains a key driver of digital marketing as advertisers compete to capture a disproportionate share of the intention that search behavior represents. Now, however, the importance of influencing the organic listings has increased significantly, as has the focus on creating and capturing intent expressed in social media and micro-blogging actions. Search marketing is becoming intention marketing and is moving beyond results pages to activating and responding to the social graph."