Online/interactive advertising revenue is forecast to reach $ 42.5 billion by 2015, nearly double 2010′s $ 21.7 billion, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.4 percent, according to a new report from BIA/Kelsey.
This growth is tied to anticipated improvement in the U.S. economy and a continued increase in overall local advertising, which is expected to reach $ 153.5 billion in 2015, up from $ 136.3 billion in 2010, representing a 2.1 percent CAGR.
As digital media — delivered to consumers through mobile, Internet or other electronic methods — continues to gain traction with local advertisers, BIA/Kelsey predicts it will represent 23.6 percent of all local ad spending by 2015.
“As the business climate improves and advertisers step back into the market, they are gravitating to digital options that perhaps were not as mature before the recession began,” said Tom Buono, chief executive officer, BIA/Kelsey.
“Our analysis indicates that as advertisers move to online, mobile and, particularly, the variants of social media, we are fast approaching a tipping point where digital media will soon become a dominant segment of the local advertising marketplace.”
Other highlights from the report include:
*The increased number of smartphones and tablets is already playing a role in affecting revenue shares earned by traditional media.
*Continued significant newspaper revenue erosion will drive pay walls and other creative approaches for rebuilding revenue base.
*The interactive/online sector continues to advance and multiply with new formats such as social and mobile.
The report also found that social media is increasingly becoming an important part of online revenue. Consumer spending on deal-a-day offers, which the firm expects will grow to $ 3.9 billion by 2015, illustrates an expanding market that includes Facebook and Twitter.
“What we’re seeing in terms of media share shifts and transformation is really unprecedented,” said Neal Polachek, president, BIA/Kelsey.
“As we look forward, the core issue challenging advertisers is to figure out a media plan that leverages the transactional nature of digital media with the scale and reach of traditional media.”
Filed under Internet Technology by on Mar 21st, 2011. 
As the desire for user-generated content continues to climb, we are going to see more and more of this kind of thing: Celebrities using social media services like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, allowing their fans to get closer to them, at least in a technological sense. Unfortunately, there are still legal issues if you want to get physically closer to the object of your idolatry.
In this case, we have Lady Gaga, and in order to allow her fans increased access, she’s teamed up with YouTube, allowing members to ask Gaga questions via her official YouTube page. There is, of course, an introductory video with Gaga inviting her fans to participate:
As indicated, questions are submitted on Gaga’s page, or, users can submit a video if they so choose. Fans can also vote on which question they’d like to see answered, which helps further the idea of the importance of user-generated content, especially when it comes to marketing in this technological era.
MTV has some more details about Gaga’s interview process, saying, “In addition to the video network, fans can tweet their questions using the hashtag #GoogleGoesGaga. Fans have until the end of the day Friday to submit their entries.”
The only thing missing from Gaga’s current fan engagement is the use of Facebook for the interview process. Maybe next time. Head on over to Gaga’s YouTube page, or hop on Twitter with the appropriate hash tag if you’d like to further the journey into Gaga’s mind. The first person to get a successful answer to the “Are you simply are product of marketing or are you a legitimate artist?” question, preferably with an in-depth, revealing response, wins.
Filed under Internet Technology by on Mar 17th, 2011.
Small businesses are increasingly relying on mobile applications, Facebook pages for their companies, and employees working remotely through wireless technologies, according to a new survey from AT&T.
More than a third (38%) of small businesses said they could not survive without mobile apps or it would be a major challenge to not have access to mobile apps. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of small businesses indicate they use mobile apps for their business. GPS/navigation and mapping mobile apps are the most popular, with nearly half (49%) saying they use them for their small business.
The survey found a significant increase in small businesses that have adopted social media as a business tool, with 41 percent reporting they have a Facebook page for their business. Usage is up from 27% in 2010, representing a 52% jump in just one year. Additionally, of all businesses reporting that they utilize social media, 41% responded that they’ve seen measurable success – in terms of better communications and relationships with new and/or existing customers.
Four in ten (40%) of small businesses report that all their employees use wireless devices or wireless technologies to work away from the office. This is up from 24% in 2008 and is expected to grow to 50% by 2012.
According to AT&T survey also found that one-third (33%) of small businesses indicated that they are using cloud-based or software as a service. In addition, despite recent headlines and media campaigns, nearly one-third (32%) of small businesses surveyed acknowledged they do not know what is meant by cloud-based or software as a service solutions.
Four in ten (40%) of small businesses report that all their employees use wireless devices or wireless technologies to work away from the office. This is up from 24% in 2008 and is expected to grow to 50% by 2012.
Filed under Internet Technology by on Mar 15th, 2011.
StumbleUpon announced that it has raised a new $ 17 million series B round of funding, which the company will use to invest in the company’s discovery technology, expand to new platforms, and grow its employee base.
The new funding comes from Accel Partners, August Capital, DAG Ventures, First Round Capital and Sherpalo Ventures. The last round was led by Accel Partners, August Capital and Sherpalo Ventures.
“We are excited to have DAG Ventures join our existing investors in this new round of financing,” said Garrett Camp, StumbleUpon CEO and co-founder. “With this new investment, we will make it even easier for people to find interesting and relevant content on the Web, whether they are on their desktop, mobile device or even TV.”
“StumbleUpon continues to grow quickly and deliver on its ambitious goal of powering personalized content discovery across all media and platforms,” said Sameer Gandhi, Partner, Accel Partners. “Content discovery is a significant opportunity, and we are excited to continue to support the leading company in the space.”
StumbleUpon finally came to iPhone and Android last year, breathing a bit of new life into the service for a lot of users. The company also recently made efforts to improve its video discovery service.
One of the most interesting things about StumbleUpon is that while it doesn’t get nearly the attention of other social platforms like Twitter and Facebook, it is cited time and time again as the biggest provider of social media traffic to websites.
Most recently, a report in January from StatCounter found that StumbleUpon was the top social media traffic source in the U.S.
@gmc
GarrettStumbleUpon just surpassed Facebook as the #1 source of social media traffic in the US! http://su.pr/6zEGWk
65 days ago via Su.pr · powered by @socialditto
It will be interesting to see where StumbleUpon expands next. With the emerging tablet market, my guess is that we’ll see some cool new stuff designed for these platforms.
Filed under Internet Technology by on Mar 10th, 2011.
Barry Bonds and the mystery surrounding his home run explosion is back in the news as the Federal Government is (finally) set to begin their perjury trial against him, and defense lawyers for Bonds are asking the judge to keep members of jury away from the Internet, at least when it comes to discussing the case.
Though it’s normal for jurors to be prohibited from discussing trials they are presiding over, this is perhaps one of the first times the social media sites we know and love have been named directly. Included in the defense’s request are the usual suspects of social media — Twitter, Facebook, as well as Google’s and Yahoo’s chat services, among others. Without these explicit restrictions, Bonds’ defense team doesn’t believe their client will receive a fair shot when his day in court comes.
KRON4.com, a local San Francisco channel, has the details (via TechDirt):
In addition to the standard instructions to avoid media coverage of the trial, the defense wants the judge to tell jurors “you must not communicate with anyone about the case by any other means, direct or indirect, such as: a writing, the telephone, e-mail, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, instant messaging, Blackberry messaging, I-Phones, I-Touches, Google, Yahoo, any internet search engine or any other form of electronic communication for any purpose whatsoever.”
Again, asking the juror to remain silent with respect to the case their responsible for is quite common, if not expected. This is, however, the first time (at least for this writer) social media sites were specifically named as disallowed communication conduits. That being said, considering the perhaps over-usage these services receive, naming them in a gag order-related request is only reasonable.
Image courtesy.
Filed under Internet Technology by on Mar 5th, 2011.
