A boom in Internet advertising is just waiting to happen as connectivity improves with a wider use of the broadband. Online advertising is catching up fast in a market dominated by the print and television media.
Says Manish Agarwal, VP-marketing, Rediff, ?Online advertising is growing at a faster pace, though it might be just 5% of the total Rs 10,000-crore advertising market in India.?
Leading portals and websites in India are also seeing a revival in Internet advertising. Rediff saw an increase of 22% in online revenue from its India operations in the quarter ended September, 2007. It largely comprised revenue from advertising and fee-based services. Consumer finance, employment, travel, matrimonial and insurance accounted for 56% of the company?s advertising revenue for the quarter.
?The top 10 advertisers contributed approximately 45% of advertising revenue for Rediff?s India online advertising business,? Agarwal adds.
Similarly, Web18 has also recorded growth of 120% in terms of revenue through online advertising this quarter. According to Rajan Srinivasan, head of sales at Web18, ?We are seeing more brands flowing in for ads this year. We are witnessing growth of 40% in terms of advertisers and brand count this festive season,? he adds.
Moreover, advertisers like eBay are also increasing their online advertising by integrating with other websites. For eBay, October to December is a period that sees the highest spend on advertising. That?s because this period is the biggest quarter of sales for all brands due to festivals and marriages.
?Online advertising caters to the marketers’ need to communicate to an engaged target audience and, therefore, an increasing number of brands are targeting these early adopters through 360 degree marketing communications, including ads and interactive media like blogs and contests,? says Rathin Lahiri, chief marketing officer, eBay India.