Internet advertising at record levels

Tuesday, 26 September 2006, 19:30 IST
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San Francisco: Internet advertising hit a record $8 billion in the first six months of 2006, fuelled by a 40 percent growth in search-related advertising, according to a study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Online classified advertising was also sharply higher, as the Internet continued to draw advertisers away from print advertisements, the report said. The study came just days after Yahoo issued a profit warning because it expects automakers and financial companies to cut advertising costs in an economic slowdown. A second study released Monday indicated that the slowdown will not be confined to Yahoo. Internet advertisements tracker eMarketer said it expects Web advertisements spending to hit $15.9 billion this year, ratcheting down an earlier forecast of $16.7 billion it made in July. The new figure represents an increase of 26.8 percent, compared with the earlier estimate of 33.2 per cent. Yahoo's warning "may well signal a canary-in-the-coalmine syndrome: that lower revenues at the Internet's leading publisher for brand-oriented advertising reflect an overall softening in the global economy," eMarketer analyst David Hallerman wrote.
Source: IANS