Advertising.com's third annual survey of interactive publishers has found that publishers expect increased spending for online branding from advertisers; increased support for video, rich media and behavioral targeting; and continued growth for large creative formats. Publishers expect web-based direct-response advertisers to account for the largest share of online ad spend (58.5 percent), but they anticipate more than 32 percent will come from more traditional, brand-focused advertisers, up from 26.5 percent in 2005.
More than 40 percent of publishers cite branding as their advertisers' main objective, more than a 100 percent increase over 2005's percentage. Moreover, for the third consecutive year publishers predict CPM pricing will account for the largest share of revenue in 2006 - up to 45 percent, compared with 41 percent in 2005.
About 67 percent of publishers support contextual advertising, up from 50 percent in 2005 - they are also now supporting brand-focused creative capabilities: Some 76 percent support rich media, up from 69 percent in 2005; 35 percent support video, compared with 25 percent in 2005; about 30 percent rely on behavioral targeting, up from 25 percent in 2005.
Click to
enlarge
Moreover, more than 43 percent of publishers now support streaming content - and among those who don't, 30 percent plan to do so later this year.
Text ad are cited as the most profitable ad unit for publishers; standard banner ads and large rectangles are expected to be important, with 15.9 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively, predicted by publishers to bring in the most revenue.
Pop-ups are on the decline for the first time in three years and are not expected to be profitable.
