Avenue A-Razorfish Research

In parallel with online ad growth, Internet audiences are increasingly fragmenting around mid and smaller-sized sites with users visiting 77% more websites than they did only five years ago.

Campaigns for brand engagement directed at affluent, values-driven audiences require the insight, focus and targeting capabilities of a specialized media platform and network. Internet marketers seeking the specific consumer segments want to go “beyond the banner” via such engagement-marketing tools as custom articles, “advertorials”, polls, promotional contests, micro-sites, re-skins and applications tailored to specific audience profiles.

Advertisers are now turning to premium vertical ad and distributed media networks to fill the gap. Avenue A, a digital advertising agency, recently reported that vertical networks and content sites accounted for 39% of their $735M 2007 gross billings.

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Collective Media Ad Network Study

A Collective Media study found that 82% of respondents plan to use a vertical ad network in 2008, with almost 90% of their respondents stating that not all ad networks are alike -- the leading differentiators being inventory quality, targeting abilities and site transparency.

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Business Week

Ad networks aren't new, but in a rough economy in which every dollar counts, advertisers are flocking to them. Several industry sources estimate that, out of the $8 billion advertisers spent on display ads last year, 70% went directly to Web sites and 30% to ad networks. This year, based on spending shifts in the past month or so, they project the mix could move to 50-50.

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