Something Must be Working

I've said quite a few disparaging things about the state of internet, and the poorly chosen means of conveyance. However despite what I might say the fact remains the whatever they are doing, it works. In a recent report released by the IAB internet advertising revenues were (get ready for it)

10 Billion Dollars!!!
The put this in comparison, that is double the last highest revenue of 5 billion. Needless to say that is a very significant rise, proof that this is indeed a growing market. It soon may even overtake new papers in advertising expenditures and revenueBut not all forms of advertising are as profitable as others, in their report the IAB was kind enough to include a rough breakdown of where the profit really lies.

	FH 2006	FH 2007
Search	40% ($3,164)	41% ($4,097)
Classifieds	20% ($1,582)	17% ($1,699)
Referrals/Lead Generation	7%($592)	8% ($799)
E-mail	2% ($158)	2% ($200)
Display Related:	31% ($2,413)	32%($3,198)
– Rich Media (Includes Video)	6% ($475)	8%($799)
– Ad Banners / Display Ads	21% ($1,622)	21%($2,099)
– Sponsorships	4% ($316)	3% ($300)
– Slotting Fees	<1%>	<1%>

Clearly the good old search and display advertisements are a good selling point. In case you don't know what those are, they are advertisements directly tailored to react to certain key works you used in a search engine (i'll cover these in another post). Also interesting in the incredibly vague and all encompassing "Display related". Which, as far as I can tell, encompasses all image ads, except for Search and Display, Rich Media, and Ad banners. Leaving...I'm not sure, I will have to find out.

This is all great, but what does it mean for the industry. Does this mean a greater influx of flash banners and pop-unders (which I have concluded are even more annoying than pop-ups). Maybe the companies will realize that they can rake a greater profit with less annoying ads. Or it could just be the more people are using the internet. What ever the cause, I predict intense and obnoxious legislation before the end, mark my words.