Search marketing firm WebAdvantage.net released results from a study showing that about seven out of eight online media buyers are dissatisfied with the online media buying experience most of the time. The lassitude of media reps - who are painted as slow and uncaring about deadlines - remains the number one complaint. Not surprisingly, buyers report that the worst performers are the sites that have no previous relationship with the buyer.

Buyers strongly dislike having to fill out web forms to get a response for media proposals. 60 percent say the still fill these out, but that they have low expectations for responses. Almost a quarter use the form as an excuse to stop considering the site.

Online media buyer expectations seem to start out much higher than those seen in other media. When asked what sort of response times are acceptable for reps, 42 percent said only one day. Another 40 percent said two days. Only about four percent of buyers were willing to give reps a week to respond.

In an age-old complaint that extends well beyond the thrall of online media, buyers complained that "reps seem to only care about the sale and not about
trying help ailing campaigns."