Online Advertising – Money Appears On The Horizon – Coming Fast

Implications: Despite the economic recession, the Internet continues to benefit from the “sea change” in the telecom space.

Analysis: Despite the recession, online (Internet) advertising is seeing rising revenues.  The forecasts are positive and reflect what I call a “sea change” in the way media and telecom are going to be making money in this ever growing interactive world.  As I stated in my past analysis; “Online and Mobile Media are Here To Stay –Social Collaboration & Location Technology Will Figure Prominently”, online media will continue to grow and will make a significant contribution to the content and advertising industries.

In a bad economy the goal for advertisers is to reach as many of the right people (your customers and best potential customers) as possible, as quickly as possible, and in as cost effective manner as possible.

Printed news media is losing readership and hence an audience for advertisers.  The Internet is as direct a medium available to reach consumers.  However, even this medium is undergoing rapid change.  Ads are getting ever flashier.  Presentation technologies are improving rapidly everyday.

Companies that focus on measuring web user metrics are popping up.  It is a company’s ability to leverage web based tools to measure user demographics in real time or near real time that sets online advertising apart from the traditional printed media.

Accurately measuring demographic data is critical to the success of online advertising.  By targeting advertising, advertisers can customize ads to specific users.  Measuring responses to ads will enable advertisers to quickly shift or modify their messages to consumers.

This will soon give rapid rise to electronic coupons.  Today you can print out your own discount coupons at home.  Cellular is already moving down the path of location-based technology driven advertising.  Imagine a handset getting sent discount coupon codes by an advertiser who knows where you are and based on your own preferences knows what products you are looking to purchase.  This would ratchet up the discounting/coupon business.

In regard to display ads, imagine a big display ad that is tied into a specific cellular carrier’s network.  The carrier knows which customers are in the area.  Targeted advertising to a preponderance of consumers in the area is not impossible.  The key here is having user profiles in a database.