The State of Online Advertising Market – New Research Reveals Advertisers Committed to Online Adve

A Quarter of Advertisers say Their Brand Advertising Spend has Increased in Past 12 Months

LOS ANGELES - LONDON,UK, September 21, 2009 – Research out today reveals a buoyant online advertising industry in the UK, with 57% of advertisers, including agencies, saying they have increased their spend on online display advertising over the last year.  Conducted by Econsultancy, and sponsored by the Rubicon Project, the survey also discovered that almost three-quarters of respondents (72%) say they expect their spending to increase over the next year.

The research, which questioned over 250 advertisers and agencies involved with media planning and buying revealed that the most widely employed publisher technique for increasing the effectiveness of advertising is demographic targeting with almost two-thirds (64%) of advertisers using this method.  Just one-third of advertisers use behavioral targeting (36%) compared with over half using geographic targeting (54%) and contextual-based targeting (49%). 

MPUs (multiple purpose units) are identified as the most effective ad format by 80% of respondents, narrowly beating skyscrapers, which are perceived as 'very’ or ‘quite‘ effective by 76% of the respondents.  Buttons are considered the least effective. The research also reveals the value of MPUS, and a combination of smart media choices and formats will create the most impactful campaigns, delivering good strong returns for advertisers and publishers alike.

Jay Stevens, Vice President and General Manager, International of the Rubicon Project comments, “Online display advertising is highly effective at delivering brand and performance for most advertisers.  The impact and budget can be best optimized when advertisers combine premium placements with second tier and broad reach, which is often achieved through the use of ad networks.”

Linus Gregoriadis, Research Director at Econsultancy, adds, "After some tough times, this research should give a real shot in the arm for the industry because it shows that display advertising is buoyant. The study shows emphatically that budgets are on the increase and that will give heart to publishers."

Alison Fennah, Executive Director of the European Interactive Advertising Association concludes, “Better campaign creativity and targeting are delivering greater consumer engagement and the flexibility afforded by online means that brands can tailor and adapt their campaigns to reach their objectives. Under challenging conditions, advertisers are increasingly recognising that online has a big part to play in building brand awareness and delivering performance and are using this medium to emerge strong from the downturn.”

Publishers are likely to be seeing more return from their online advertising as the research reveals that spend on online advertising is increasing whilst publisher rate card prices have generally gone down. 39% of the advertisers and agencies surveyed say rate cards have decreased and a further 39% say they have stayed the same. 

The Online Advertisers Survey Report also examines the role that online advertising networks play in the media mix.  31% of display budget is spent on ad networks and this is growing with 42% of advertisers planning to increase their spend on networks over the next twelve months.  Advertisers judge networks on ‘audience’, ‘reach’ and ‘price’ and see their man benefits as 'increased reach' (67%), with over half of them (55%) also benefiting from 'more flexible payment models' like buying on a CPC or CPA basis and 'lower cost' (also 55%). 

Full details of the research, titled ‘The Online Advertising market’ will be revealed on 22nd September at ad tech where Jay Stevens and Linus Gregoriadis will present the findings at 11.10 in the Insight, Research and Privacy Theatre. 

More than 600 digital marketers took part in The Online Advertisers Survey Report, which was carried out in August and September 2009. The respondents included 121 direct advertisers and 139 involved with media planning and buying.  Members of the IAB, Econsultancy, EIAA and AOP participated in the research.

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