Expenditure on all categories of online ad spend has been increasing and the trend is expected to continue for at least the next five years. According to estimates by eMarketer, a New York based internet research and trend analysis firm, double digit online ad spending growth rates are likely to continue until 2014-15. This year’s online ad spending is expected to grow by 20.2%.
Search accounts for a major portion of internet ad spending. Around $12 billion was spent on search ads last year and this year the figure is likely to be $14.38 billion. By 2015 search ad spending is expected to reach $21.53 billion.
Although search continues to draw top dollars, video ads is the fastest growing format. In 2010, spending on online video ads was $1.42 billion, which is expected to increase to $2.16 billion this year. By 2015, the total spending on online video ads is expected to be $7.11 billion. Spending on other online ad formats like email, rich media, banner ads, classifieds and directories, lead generation and sponsorships is also expected to increase.
Various factors are supporting this growth. Small and medium sized businesses interested in local advertising are investing in internet ads as their customers have started favoring the internet over yellow pages and newspapers. AOL, Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and Facebook are likely to be the top five ad selling companies. Internet marketing firm efforts for a majority of industires can expect to include advertising with all of the main players, as theyare likely to account for 68% of the total internet ad spending this year.