Intro to Digital Age

Internet advertising has seen tremendous growth in the last year.  Media Daily News reported that Internet ad spending increased 46.4% in this year’s first quartile over last.  According to the article, television ad spending grew only .2%, while radio and newspaper saw decreases in ad spending.  MySpace demonstrated the growing popularity of niche networking sites, capturing 17% of June ads.  Clearly, businesses are aware of the growing audience of Internet users around the world.  Advertising online has evolved from simple text to rich media and static images.  Some advertising companies now focus completely on online ads.  As companies expand their online advertising, new trends have emerged.  Advertisements are becoming more focused on online customer behavior. 

BusinessWeekreported that advertisers are finding new ways to track customer behavior, allowing them to target specific audiences.  According to the article, advertisers are able to group people in new ways such as by zip code, age, or reading habits – based on online behavior.  Advertising executives argue that a better understanding of the audience will lead to better quality ads.  These better quality ads will focus on “elite” websites that have a dedicated customer following.  Blogs and other niche sites will have a harder time competing for ad sales, but can join the “elite” by proving reliable audience numbers.  Some behavioral agencies are now able to track an Internet user’s journey from site to site, gaining insight on what the user is searching for and where he or she is likely to go to find that item.  This information tells advertisers what ads are most effective and where to place those ads.  Advertisers will learn where to place ads based on competition from other advertisers and price.  Niche markets, because of their lower advertising costs, may see a growth in advertising as a result.   

I don’t think niche sites should be counted out in advertising.  It may seem like blogs and other niche sites have a small following right now, but they have the potential for tremendous growth.  Our readings from this week demonstrated this potential.  If a respected blogger has an advertisement on his or her site and endorses the product, the effects could be widespread.  Hewitt noted that the blogosphere is an environment in which individuals encourage others to participate in the discovering and sharing of truth.  The growth of Firefox is an example of one blogger’s influence, and the power of word-of-mouth advertising.  I think companies will develop new ways in the future to cater to specific audiences when those audiences will be most receptive of their messages.  Rather than creating ads that pop up at inconvenient times, agencies will develop catered messages to a very specific demographic.  Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I can imagine a future without annoying pop ups and the need to “fast-forward” through commercials.