News from the IAB (caveat, I am on the Board)…
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB ) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) today announced that Internet advertising revenues reached almost $5.9 billion for the third quarter of 2008, representing an 11 percent increase over the same period in 2007. While double-digit annual growth continues, the quarter-to-quarter curve remains relatively flat compared to recent past performance….
…The Q3 2008 figures, published in the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, are 2 percent higher than the Q2 2008 results. Set against strong economic headwinds in the U.S. economy, Q3 ’08’s $5.9 billion represents nonetheless the second-highest quarter results ever. For the first nine months of 2008, revenues totaled $17.3 billion, up from $15.2 billion in the same period a year ago and surpassing the record set in the first nine months of 2007 by nearly 14 percent.
The one everyone will be watching, and most expect will be very bad news, is the Q4 spend. It feels like there is a pause in the market as advertisers rethinking how they are spending, and what ROI means in a world of engaged media. Long term, this is a good thing, I think.