Online Advertising Beats Print Media for the First Time

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The year 2010 is an important one for online marketing, as for the first time, the amount spent on online ads has surpassed the amount spent on newspaper ads. This includes print as well as online newspaper ads.

The past few years have shown the growing preference given by marketers to online ads over newspaper ads. According to estimates, in 2009, $22.7 billion was spent on online ads compared to $27.6 billion on newspaper ads. This year, the spending on internet ads surpassed that on newspaper ads with internet ad spending at $25.8 billion and that on newspaper ads at $25.7 billion. In 2011, the trend is expected to continue with the spending on internet ads expected to reach $28.5 billion, while the spending on newspaper ads is expected to shrink further to $24.6 billion.

The figures on newspaper ad spending include what advertisers spent on print ads as well as online newspaper ads. Newspaper ad spending fell by 6.6% while internet marketing saw a rise of 13.9% in ad expenditure. Although there is an overall drop in the amount of newspaper ad expenditure, the drop in print ad spending is even sharper. This year, 11.7% of the total newspaper ad spending was on online newspapers and it is expected to reach 13% next year.

The trend clearly highlights how more and more advertisers are waking up to the power of the internet. Although this shift is largely on expected lines, it will ring alarm bells for newspapers that are still not taking their online presence seriously.