Online Revenue BOOMS in Down Economy to Record High 23 Billion!

As bleak as the economy appears…as deep as the stock market falls…its encouraging to hear there’s one arena that continues to thrive, even during recessionary times. If there is one industry that does not need to go to Congress with hat-in-hand, its online advertising!

Internet advertising revenues in the U.S. remain strong, topping $23 billion, according to the recent 2008 Internet Advertising Revenue Report, released by the IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Despite a failing economy in the US, interactive advertising’s continued growth confirms the recognition of the medium’s dominance over other traditional forms of advertising. The old adage of “fishing where the fishies swim” is clearly the dynamic at work here, in reaching consumers online where they are spending more and more of their time.

By year’s end, 2008 tallied a record $23.4 billion, exceeding 2007′s previous record performance of $21.2 billion! This is the fifth consecutive year of record results. By comparison, a variety of sources demonstrated weakness in overall advertising spending that includes the traditional “push” advertising mediums of TV and print. The Nielsen Company reported that overall U.S. advertising for the full year was down 2.6% compared to the full year 2007.

The Report also indicated that revenue from online ads ¢â‚¬â€ which companies such as Google and Yahoo heavily rely on ¢â‚¬â€ totaled $6.1 billion in the last three months of 2008.

Going forward, a report was released by senior analyst David Hallerman on the the future of online advertising. He says that while paid search will continue to be the biggest growth sector in 2009, the appeal of ‘search’ is limited, in that it’s basically a direct marketing tool. He says that video is much more emotional and creative and has a greater ability to engage the online consumer with a ‘call to action’ message.

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As far as how video revenue will break down in ’09, Screen Digest analyst Arash Amel believes Hulu will take in $120 million this year and tells Business Week it will match YouTube’s revenue for the first time by year’s end.

However, while the online space continues to look healthy, other analysts are more cautious in predicting the future. While they see the IAB report as encouraging, they are not totally sold. The good news is that Internet advertising revenues in the U.S. are still growing…the bad news: this growth appears to be flattening.

“My opinion is that the report gives a high-level snapshot of what is happening — but to get the true story, you have to dig deeper,” Anand Subramanian, CEO of ContextWeb and the operator of the ad exchange Adsdaq, told the E-Commerce Times.

“If you look specifically at growth for targeted advertising versus run of network or run of site, it’s a different picture. What we’re seeing is that targeted advertising, be it contextual or behavioral or geographical is actually going up,” Subramanian said, “and untargeted buys, like run of network [or] run of site, are coming down. This blended effect is what’s reflected in the IAB report.”

So stay tuned…because in my opinion the sure bet is still in favor of online advertising continuing to rise into the foreseeable future.

For more on internet marketing, visit GridSix Interactive.

Facebook Cacophony

There was a time, many years ago, when I joined a Facebook that was uncluttered and mature. Some would say that this dignified Facebook is withering away, some would say it’s been gone for a long time. Facebook has just updated their website with a new look. Rounded edges have replaced the old right angle standard and more crap is being shoved on your screen and in your face.

MySpace was the first social network I joined, and at the time I thought it was one of the most amazing things on the web. I could connect with all of my friends, share photos, and listen to some music. Some time later I caught wind of the Facebook bandwagon and hopped on. What I found on Facebook was MySpace without the clutter and 8th grade drama. Facebook became my true stomping grounds and I eventually deleted my MySpace account because I didn’t need it anymore; Facebook satisfied all of my needs.

Years have passed and Facebook has updated numerous times, becoming less appealing with each new transition. I’ve become a passive Facebook user these days. My profile is rarely ever updated and I have an enormous stockpile of other requests (game, quiz, movie, and hundreds of other annoying applications) that just sit on my page, waiting for me to accept or deny them.

Over time, my main page has morphed into the MySpace mess that I thought I had escaped. My attention has become scattered between the newsfeed, pokes, sidebar updates, and all the other crap. My profile itself is fairly clean, but whenever I stop by a friend’s page I get so damn confused as to what the hell is going on with all the apps they have everywhere and all the different updates scrolling through their scattered wall. It reminds me of the MySpace pages I hated to visit because they were so muddled with unorganized messages, quizzes, links, videos, and graphics that the page would never load and I’d have to struggle through all the hideousness just to leave a damn comment.

That’s not to say that all of Facebook is bad. Facebook has some redeeming qualities that haven’t been lost…yet. I’m happy that I can at least keep my profile fairly clean and not have a million different things forced onto it. I like the way groups work too, they’re a very popular way for political activists or the average Joe to have their voice heard and gain a following. Facebook also gives you the opportunity to edit your settings and rid yourself of some of the clutter, but there is still plenty of it that squeaks by no matter how vigilant you are.

Facebook’s high point for me was during my younger college years, and now I’m a year out of school. Maybe that means I’m turning into an old fogy who just can’t comprehend the modern styling of Facebook anymore. I used to love having some sort of connection to my old friends (I guess I still do since I still have my Facebook account), but I feel like the need for that connection is fading away. Perhaps my age is catching up with me and I’m getting my first inklings that I just cant keep up with the young guns anymore.

Maybe it’s not because I’m an old fogy, but because the Internet is evolving. Twitter is the new hot thing at the moment and it brings back a lot of what Facebook originally offered me. Twitter is a quick and easy way to keep in touch with friends without all of the mess that most other social networks have. Twitter is literally Facebook stripped down to it’s bare bones, as simple as it gets. You can read about how much I enjoyed registering a Twitter account and discovering what it was all about in my previous post. Simplicity is what I desire in a social network, but it seems that they all grow more complex with age, eventually scaring me off with the threat of too many options and applications to choose from.

Am I asking too much? I hope not. I enjoy my time online and using the Internet to communicate with friends. I just don’t want all the extra.

Is Facebook too little, too much, or just right? We’ve all seen the Yahoo vs. Google comparisons- is Facebook going the way of Yahoo?

Help Me Hate Google

We all use Google search. I know you use Google. Know how I know? Because you use Google. I know you don’t not use Google, don’t try to convince me otherwise.

Go ahead and complain about how Google owns the entire Internet market of everything, complain about Google’s arrogance or about how it helped China to censor the Internet. Grumble about how Google is squirming into every aspect of your life. Make a fuss over how the word google has turned into a verb. Bitch about how much better your unknown, niche search engine is.

Yahoo! will never make a comeback, Windows Live search has always sucked, and you’re not going to convince me to use imacoolsearchengine.com.

Top 1 Reasons Why Google Search Sucks

1. Because it doesn’t.

Google search sucks because we can’t find a reason for it to suck. Google search is simple, easy-to-use, reliable, accurate, vast, fun, and there. It’s there. It’s everywhere. I don’t even have to go to google.com to use it. Sometimes I’m searching with Google and I don’t even notice. Powered by Google is one of the most used phrases on the internet.

We want to find a reason to hate Google like we can find for Walmart or Microsoft. I want to hate Google. I hate that I can’t hate Google.

Google ads may suck. Google web browsers may suck. Google maps may suck. Google search does not suck. Go and google something (I hate that I just used it as a verb) and tell me that your search experience sucked. Oh it did suck? Really? You’re lying. That search was wonderful, it was amazing. You found what you wanted and several other interesting things.

Are you going to tell me that Google search isn’t the best for search engine optimization? Are you going to inform me that it’s search algorithm is sub-par? BS. Give me side-by-side comparisons to go with your arguments accompanied by search engine speeds and results, then shove it up your ass. Statistics show that 99% of users find what they want on the first page of a Google search and the other 1% are racist bastards.

Excuse my language. My feelings are getting the best of me. I want to hate Google search so much, so much…but here I am, unable to accept any Google search directed criticism. Give me rhyme or reason to hate Google search. I’ve heard many testimonies, but none that have been solid reasons as to why Google search is a bad thing, or why it is anything less than a great thing.

Please help me.