IDC: Internet ad revenue to double by 2012

Marketers can expect to spend much more money online in the next five years. This also means consumers will be seeing more online ads, so marketers should get inventive with the process. According to a recent IDC study, online ad revenue will surpass $51 billion by 2012.

by Kristina Knight

In 2007, online ad revenue was $25.5 billion.

The U.S. Internet Advertising 2008-2012 Forecast and Analysis report predicts that the increase will take online advertising from the 5th to the 2nd spot as far as money earned.

Video advertising is expected to be the one of the biggest spending areas, growing from $500 million in 2007 to nearly $4 billion in 2012.

Karsten Weide, program director, Digital Media and Entertainment said, "What will also drive this trend is that consumers are starting to realize that, as opposed to TV, Internet video lets them watch what they want, when they want, and increasingly also where they want."

Search marketing will also have a big impact on marketing budgets, accounting for the majority of online ad budgets. Search, which brought in just over $10 billion in 2007 will increase to about $18 billion in revenue by 2012.

Meanwhile, mobile advertising will continue to grow but will still account for only about 1% of the online advertising market.