eMarketer projects online spending will jump from $21.4 billion in 2007 to $27.5 billion in 2008. “With money tight, marketing executives will continue to gravitate toward the Internet, looking for more measurable ad formats to buttress their positions,” it said in a report released Thursday.
The report covered many areas of online advertising, including video. David Hallerman, an eMarketer senior analyst, said, “The array of video available online will jump dramatically both from professional content producers, such as TV networks and from the growing panoply of amateurs. Various large online video players, such as Google, Microsoft and the TV networks, will fortify their video offerings by buying small ad related companies.”
The growth in social networking was also covered. Debra Aho Williamson, a senior analyst, said, “About 44 percent of U.S. consumers will use social networking at least once a month. U.S. spending on social networks will climb to nearly $1.6 billion in 2008, up from $920 million in 2007. Although targeted advertising is getting the lion’s share of attention and will continue to be a hot button in 2008, other forms of social network marketing, such as search advertising and widgets will draw increased marketer interest.”
As for mobile, John du Pre Gauntt, a senior analyst, said “Mobile marketing will execute its first million dollar-plus campaign and local mobile search will become a huge battleground among Web giants, mobile operators and local directory publishers.”
The online role in the presidential election was also covered. Paul Verna, a senior analyst, said, “YouTube plays a decisive role in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, by airing user-submitted clips that seal the fate of a leading candidate or setting the tone of the campaign through the site’s series of sponsored debates.”
Celebs Among Thousands Evacuated in Los Angeles Fires
Wildfires in and around Los Angeles have burned several celebrities' homes and forced stars including Mark Hamill, Mandy Moore and James Woods, to evacuate. Cary Elwes and Paris Hilton are among the stars who said Wednesday they had lost homes in the Palisades fire. California firefighters are battling wind-whipped fires tearing across the area, destroying homes, clogging roadways as tens of thousands fled and straining resources as the fires burned uncontained Wednesday. The Pacific Palisades neighborhood is a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity residences and memorialized by the Beach Boys in their 1960s hit "Surfin' USA." In the frantic haste to get to safety, roadways became impassable when scores of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, some toting suitcases. "Evacuated Malibu so last minute," wrote Hamill in an Instagram post Tuesday night. "Small fires on both sides of the road as we approached (the Pacific Coast Highway)." Less than 72 hours before, Hollywood's highest-wattage stars had convened to walk the Golden Globes' red carpet, the first major event of the exuberant and, for many, triumphant awards season. The revelry of awards season had quickly been snuffed out, too: Premieres of contenders like "Better Man" and "The Last Showgirl" were canceled, the Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations were announced via press release instead of at a live event and weekend events like the AFI Awards were preemptively scrubbed. The Oscar nominations are also being delayed two days to Jan. 19 and the film academy has extended the voting window to accommodate members affected by the fires. Here's how celebrities and entertainment companies are being impacted by the fires burning in and around Los... Read More