US online ad revenue growth slowed in 2007- IAB
- Added:
- Feb 26, 2008
Online ad revenues reached a record high of over $21bn in 2007, but revenue growth slowed compared with the same period in 2006, according to new research.
Preliminary data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) indicate that ad revenues grew 25% last year from nearly $17bn in 2006 to $21bn in 2007, representing a rise of $4.2bn.
This is less than the 35% percent and $4.3bn growth seen in 2006 over 2005, the IAB said.
A slowing of revenue growth has long been predicted by industry analysts, as the Internet takes a larger share of advertising revenue away from traditional media such as TV and print.
However, the IAB said the Internet still represents less than 10% of all US ad spending, meaning there's room for a lot more growth, even at a slower rate.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, which conducts a quarterly survey for the advertising trade group using data from the 15 largest online ad sellers, said fourth-quarter revenues totaled about $5.9 billion, topping the previous record of $5.2 billion in the third quarter.
David Silverman of PricewaterhouseCoopers said the latest record numbers demonstrate that interactive media continue to be important to consumers and marketers.
The IAB said that the most lucrative online ad format was still paid-for search ads such as Google’s Adwords program.
The IAB added that final US data and breakdowns by ad types would be available in May.