Transcending bubbles
I’m a sucker for good news about the future of the Internet. That bias noted, I think that it’s pretty clear that there’s every reason to be optimistic about the vibrancy of the online economy.
It all starts with advertising. Content may be king, but a growing online advertising industry means that strong content will be supported, keep the lights and servers running for quality publishers, and enable consumers to find stuff that they want (yes, advertising can actually be a good thing if the right ad is put in front of the right person at the right time!).
A huge sign that 2008 is a very different time for the Internet than the post-web 1.0 “nuclear winter” of 2001-2003 is that advertisers and publishers are continuing to thrive – or at least survive – despite some turbulence in the broader economy.
The Online Publishers Association remains optimistic, Reuters reports, in part due to the continued explosion of online advertising spending in the US. A 23% growth rate this year versus 25% last year, according to eMarketer, is a pretty sure sign – even in the midst of a murky overall economic situation – that there are broad and deep forces at work in keeping the good ship interwebs afloat.
One factor is the expanding global reach of the Internet. Pam Horan, president of the Online Publishers Association, told Reuters that sectors such as travel and financial news are now being supported in part by international audiences.
Here’s the bottom line in my view: it simply makes sense for consumers and advertisers to find each other online versus other mediums. And that keeps the whole creaky wheel a turning. Old world advertisers and traditional media companies are still just catching on to this, which means that things are just getting started.
Online advertising technology is still brand new as well, and will itself be an area of enormous investment and experimentation for many years to come. Online publishers will continue to work with advertisers to find the right ad models to both best serve their audiences and obviously maximize revenue.
