Web Advertising Continues to Boom

Depending on which media source you look at, the latest news today from eMarketer could be seen as positive or worrisome. Alley Insider prefers to point out the downside suggesting that research firms continue to downsize their estimates for future online advertising campaign. Others have been more upbeat and given that Federated Media, a popular online ad network, is about to close $30 million in funding, things aren’t looking to shabby.

No matter how I look at the chart below, it is difficult to come up with any downside. The largest growth over the next 5 years is supposed to come from rich media and video advertising. This isn’t surprising since interactive advertising is becoming more advanced and well, more interactive.

If you are looking are looking at the absolute numbers expected out of each sector of online advertising (search, rich media, sponsorships, lead generation, etc), all of them are expected to grow over the next few years but percentage wise, allocations will be adjusting.

For now, while advertising expenditures are being revised downward, it is still a rosy outlook. While other parts of the economy are sagging, the online industry is still booming and given that advertising dollars are the primary source of web revenue, it’s refreshing to see eMarketer’s new projections.