October 22, 2009 by ggackle
Internet ad measurement firm ZenithOptimedia is predicting online ad spending will grow 9 percent next year at the same time another research firm is reporting the number of web users clicking on display ads has declined by half since 2007.
ZenithOptimedia estimates global ad spending will total $445 billion in 2009, with Internet ads totaling $54 billion, or about 12 percent of the advertising pie. Meanwhile, magazine advertising is forecast to decline nearly 20 percent to $45 billion and newspapers advertising is expected to drop 17 percent to $102 billion.
Another Internet measurement firm, comScore, reports "total clickers" of online display ads has fallen dramatically in the past two years.
In 2007, the firm found 32 percent of Internet users clicked on at least one display ad during the month. In March 2009, that same metric had declined to 16 percent.
Google: 10 billion videos and counting
Talk about dominance in the video market. Google (YouTube and its other affiliated sites) ranks number one in the "videos viewed" online in the month of August with 10 billion, according to comScore.. The next closest competitor was Microsoft (and its affiliated sites) with a paltry 547 million videos viewed.
Google's video channel has become ubiquitous. Everything from political campaign speeches, Iranian demonstrations to Bettendorf High School Marching Band performances can be viewed on YouTube.
Newsday to charge 'non-subscribers' for online access
Newsday.com, the online version of the Long Island, NY daily newspaper, has announced it will begin charging non-subscribers (to its printed paper or cable television service) for its online content. The site will charge $5 per week for online access.
Three-fourths of Long Island households subscribe to either the printed newspaper or Cablevision (which owns Newsday).
Only a handful of newspaper sites charge for online access. The Dispatch/Argus online site, qconline.com, used to limit access to its site by non-newspaper subscribers, but removed that restriction two years ago. Limiting access to newspaper subscribers reduces online page views/visitors, which can then affect online ad revenues.
On the flip side, allowing unlimited online access can lead to fewer print subscribers, lowering circulation and ad rates/revenues.
