Mr. Rothenberg defends online
advertising for small biz

This afternoon President Randall Rothenberg of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) will testify at a House Small Business Committee Hearing, regarding how internet advertising affects small business growth.

"Small business websites are the Mom & Pop grocery stores of the World Wide Web," he stated. "Just as the local retailer anchors a geographic community, these sites anchor communities of interest that span towns, cities, states, even nations.

"They do this with their content — and they finance their content through advertising.”

Internet ad revenues totaled over $21 billion in 2007 and $5.8 billion in Q1 of 2008.

Online ad spend among small companies comprised more than double that of large and medium-sized companies.

The IAB recently created a membership level for small online publishers, an effort to encourage them to explore online ad options and "prevent adverse state and Federal regulation that could hinder [their] ability to sell or carry advertising."