10.17.2009

10.05.2009

US Web Ad Spending Fell

By SCOTT MORRISON

U.S. advertisers spent $10.9 billion on Internet ads in the first half of 2009, a 5.3% decline from the same period last year, the Interactive Advertising Bureau said Monday.

Search advertising continued to represent the largest percentage of overall interactive ad spending, with search revenues reaching more than $5.1 billion in the half of 2009, up slightly from that same period in 2008, the group said in a report produced with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Display-related advertising--which includes display ads, rich media, digital video and sponsorship--totaled nearly $3.8 billion in the first six months of 2009, a 1.1% decline from the same period in 2008, the IAB said.

Digital video ads remained at tiny segment of the market with $477 million in spending, but the sector continued to show robust growth with a 38% increase from last year.

The report largely confirmed what Internet giants such as Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. have been saying for months - that the economic downturn has taken its toll on Internet advertising, but not in an even fashion and not the to degree in which the offline ad market has suffered.

"We are in one of the most difficult economic slumps in decades. Interactive is one of the advertising sectors that has been least affected," Randall Rothenberg, president and chief executive of the IAB, said in a statement.

Write to Scott Morrison at scott.morrison@dowjones.com

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10.04.2009

"ORA" Watch - - Sick!!!


This watch is sooo impressive. I love the design. To see more click the title link for a description and more pics.

Overdraft Fees in the US and UK

You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone. US banks’ credit card fees already face new restrictions. Now Congress is expected to move ahead with proposals that could require banks to ask customers whether they want overdraft services. These allow transactions when accounts are in the red but have been criticised for charges as high as $40 per transaction, even for a $5 overdraft. They also fall disproportionately on low-balance accounts. This has proved controversial elsewhere – although in countries such as the UK, where the Office of Fair Trading has bashed fees since 2006, banks are further ahead in responding...

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