Online display advertising is very big business these days. Just ask Facebook and Google about their performance this year – and watch them smile. According to research firm – eMarketer – the guerillas in the online display ad space are Facebook at 16.8% market share (selling $2.58 billion in online display ads) and Google at 16.4% market share (selling $2.54 billion). These two companies combine to have a third of the market for the U.S. display ads.
Consider the growth of these two firms compared to the previous leaders of Yahoo and Microsoft. In 2008, Yahoo held a 16.4% market share but dropped to 10.8% in 2011. AOL and Microsoft also continue to lose market share. What factors are causing the changes? And, how can smaller companies keep up with the giants?
Group Activities and Discussion Questions:
- Have students compare the growth trends in each chart. What are factors that might have caused the changes to the firms?
- Have students view the eMarketer information: www.emarketer.com
- What are recent stories?
- What are implications for marketers?
- What are implications for companies?
- What are trends in digital advertising and spending?
- Have students surf Facebook and Google for three minutes. How many, and what types, of online display ads did they see? What are implications for marketers?
- How might the growth in online display ad sales affect other media? Affect the messages used?
Source: Ad Age, 2/22/12; www.emarketer.com
