Internet Marketing 2008 and Beyond - Part 1

Ad industry prognosticators agree:

Online advertising remains the sweet spot for the media industry.Four of the most-recognized ad industry prognosticators-three media agencies and an analyst-released advertising spending predictions for 2007-2008 last Monday, and online was the clear winner.

Media agency ZenithOptimedia predicted online ad spending will grow seven times faster than offline advertising in 2007.

Global Internet ad spending is expected to grow 28.2%, while spending on other media will see 3.9% growth.

ZenithOptimedia predicted Internet spending will overtake outdoor advertising this year and is poised to overtake radio spending in 2009.

Two other forecasters came out with numbers similar to those ZenithOptimedia presented.

WPP Group's GroupM, a London-based media agency, also predicted 28% ad spending growth online in 2007 in its "This Year Next Year Worldwide'' report, while Merrill Lynch forecast 22.9% growth.

Universal McCann's Robert J. Coen, senior VP-director of forecasting, said U.S., Internet spending will grow 15% next year.

To be continued...