Strength in Times of Weakness

Search Marketing Blog

Strength in Times of Weakness

Posted by Sean McMahon on 05.23.2008

In these challenging economic times, online marketing continues to rise above the challenge. The latest evidence of this is contained in a report released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) this morning. The online marketing research firm eMarketer presented the findings from this report in its article titled ‘Online Ad Spending Holding Strong’.

This article points-out that, according to the IAB report, even though the past year has seen higher costs across our economy, 2007 turned-in record results and a thirteenth consecutive record quarter. Online advertising revenues totaled $5.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, the highest ever for a single quarter, and 24% higher than the same quarter in the previous year.

For the full twelve months last year, Internet advertising revenues surpassed $21 billion, which was a 26% increase compared to total revenues in 2006. The following chart from eMarketer depicts this impressive record-breaking performance.

As retail gasoline prices soar through $4.00 per gallon without any hesitation, and all facets of the economy feel their impact, more and more businesses are realizing the tremendous value of reaching customers online. I perceive that, even in these challenging times, online marketing (especially search engine marketing), will continue to capture a greater amount of overall marketing budgets in 2008. Let me know what you think.