In February, consumer advertisers accounted for just 4 per cent of
all online advertising spend. By July, the figure had risen
unspectacularly to 10 per cent. But it jumped a further 6 percentage
points in August, and the September figures - which we are due to
feature in our next issue - show a leap to 24 per cent.
Over the same period, total adspend has risen by around 50 per cent from
a little over pounds 1 million in February to pounds 1,560,000 in
August.
The pure growth rate is impressive enough, but it is the fact that
consumer advertisers are driving that growth which is the most
significant development for the online advertising market.
OK, so I know that every article you’ve ever read about online
advertising has probably sought to proclaim the internet’s ’coming of
age’. This is no longer wishful thinking. The shape of the market at
this early stage is more important than its size. The arrival of
consumer advertising as the third largest spending sector on the net
suggests the medium has healthy long-term growth prospects.
Fletcher Research cites the World Cup as a major factor in wooing
consumer brands online. More important for the likes of W. H. Smith,
Arcadia Group, Volkswagen and Amazon was the need to promote online
products.
As more companies follow their lead and start putting aspects of their
businesses on the net, adspend will rise exponentially.
Fletcher’s definition of consumer advertisers leaves even more room for
optimism: it doesn’t include travel or banking - hence the presence of
Barclays Bank at number four in the overall top ten. Its pounds 48,000
spend wasn’t distributed in the manner of a niche financial services
advertiser.
It embraced pure consumer-oriented sites, largely those of traditional
media owners such as the Telegraph, the BBC, the Sunday Times and
Capital Radio, and the occasional specialist site like Money World.
With Barclays nestling alongside the likes of Ford in the top ten, it’s
time to consign the usual stuff you read in this column about the
domination of computer advertisers to the dustbin.
The top ten still accounts for a worryingly large proportion of the
total spend, accounting for 31 per cent with pounds 487,000. This share
is falling, however, which is yet another sign of a market which,
although not yet mature, is manifestly maturing with every passing
month.
TOP 10 UK ADVERTISERS
Rank Estimated value*(pounds 000s)
1 IBM pounds 97
2 Citigroup pounds 67
3 Amazon pounds 54
4 Barclays Bank pounds 48
5 Dell Computer Corp pounds 42
6 Ford Motor Company pounds 40
7 Microsoft Corp pounds 39
8 Ericsson pounds 36
9 Charles Schwab pounds 34
10 BT pounds 30
TOP 10 UK CONSUMER ADVERTISERS
Rank Estimated value*(pounds 000s)
1 Amazon pounds 54
2 Ford Motor Company pounds 40
3 HM Government pounds 31
4 Volkswagen pounds 29
5 Arcadia Group pounds 15
6 BMW pounds 14
7= PSA Peugeot Citroen pounds 11
7= W.H. Smith pounds 11
9 IMVS pounds 10
10 Conrad Electronic n/a
Internet Adwatch values estimated using rate-card-equivalent
prices.
Estimates do not take into account publishers discounts. Excludes
advertising and adverts placed with barter networks(eg
LinkExchange)
Data supplied from internet AdWatch(tm), the advertising monitor
produced by Fletcher Research (www.fletch.co.uk, 0800 068 1101).
