Report: '08 ad outlook dims, search outlook brightens

There is good news and bad news for online marketers. The bad? Another analytics firm has lowered their online advertising expectations for the year. The good? The outlook for the immediate future, meaning 2009, is brightening. Today, Carat, lowered their expectations for 2008 both globally and in the US; they now expect global ad spending to increase by about 5% and in the US to rise by only about 2%.

by Kristina Knight

In forecasts earlier this year, the company expected the global spend to increase by 6% and in the US to gain by about 4%. The changes, according to the company, are due to worldwide economic issues and the fact that advertisers are beginning to pinch pennies, too. Jerry Buhlmann, CEO of Carat parent company Aegis Media said that advertisers are increasingly considering how to better spend their ad dollars both online and offline.

Still, the outlook is brightest for online mediums because advertisers are beginning to let go of ad space in local newspapers, regional magazines and local television stations in favor of spending more targeted dollars in online environments.

"Internet advertising is continuing to drive spending ahead of other sectors in nearly every region," said Mr. Buhlman. "Internet is set to overtake radio this year to become the world's third most popular medium, behind television and print.

What areas are looking brightest for marketers? Search continues to be a big draw because the platforms in search are so highly developed. Advertisers can better target campaigns and are more adept at making changes on the fly.

Tags: advertising forecast, Carat, online advertising, online marketing, paid search

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