Rich LeFurgy, IAB Chairman and Senior Vice President, advertising, ABC News/ESPN Internet Ventures. The Internet Advertising Bureau via its industry-leading Advertising Revenue Reporting Program announced that $906.5 million was spent on online advertising in 1997. Leading industry categories were computing products (33%), consumer-related (26%), financial services (11%), news media (11%) and telecom (9%). Yahoo!, a Web search engine, maintained its position as the top ad-supported site in 1997. Excite and Infoseek rounded out the top three ad-supported sites. In just two years the Web has managed to establish itself as a legitimate forum with both advertisers and the public, said Matt Kinsman, EAMR editor. Web advertising is no longer an either/or proposition, but a necessary complement to traditional media. The Web can be transformed into a research tool, a brand builder and an advertising medium in one swoop, something not offered by other media. Another advantage of this medium is that it provides advertisers with detailed demographics about who actually saw their advertising medium. Interactive media can operate in territories not covered by a companys sales force. It can bring the showroom and sales pitch to the consumers location.One of the disadvantages of using this type of advertising medium is the lack of intrusiveness it offers. The persuasive elements of the Internet advertisement usually lie at least a few clicks away from the users current location. This could cause the user to lose interest in the product or then be intrigued by another banner.The World Wide Web, can support both consumer marketing and trade marketing objectives. The Web and its importance as a new medium has been recognized to the extent that it will be measured in all US media research from this year. The Web provides a company with access to a global audience of consumers in their millions, and also to a very wide range of companies. The...
