Ad dollars are heading online

As local ad agencies vie for their share of business from Triangle tech firms, a new report suggests their efforts may be well-spent. There is, it would appear, gold in them thar hills.

In a report released Aug. 16, Jupiter Communications Inc. in New York predicted that spending on online advertising will reach $16.5 billion by 2005. By that time, the typical Internet user will be exposed to an incredible 950 Internet-based marketing messages per day.

Jupiter says marketers plan to increase spending on Internet advertising at a higher rate than in any other medium. Some 73 percent of advertisers said they would boost their online ad spending in the next 12 months, versus 43 percent who said they would increase their magazine spending. Just 37 percent plan to increase their cable-TV budget.

While much of this advertising will come from traditional firms, it is clear that the advertising industry as a whole is being propelled into cyberspace at a brisk clip. This development in turn could spur closer long-term ties between agencies and the high-tech firms that are driving the overall migration of ad dollars onto the Web.

Credits: The Business Journal