According to market-research group IDC, Internet advertising spending has fallen an average of 5 percent across the globe this quarter, marking the second-straight quarterly decline for an industry that once showed immense promise. IDC has also predicted that we will see two more periods of decline for the Internet ad market and that it may not make significant rebounds until 2010.
However, IDC did have some good news, stating that the Internet ad market has most likely seen its worst days. The IDC will release its Worldwide and U.S. Internet Ad Spend Report 2Q09 soon, in which the company will provide …read more

From TechNewsWorld by Anick Jestanun;
Mobile Advertising: Still in Wild, Wild West Phase
“In the weeks leading to Christmas, an online wine retailer gave 15 percent discounts to anyone who sent in a photo of its newspaper ad snapped with a camera phone.
SnapTell, the company helping Wine Enthusiast and other merchants offer such services, uses image-recognition software to determine what offer, video clip or other content to return to the phone. In the coming months, the same technology could deliver movie reviews and discounts to anyone snapping a picture of a movie poster or billboard.
It’s one of a number of emerging approaches …read more

It gets even better…
INTERNET ADVERTISING REVENUES IN Q3 ’07 SURPASS $5.2 BILLION, SETTING NEW HIGH
“The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) today announced that Internet advertising revenues exceeded $5.2 billion for the third quarter of 2007, representing yet another historic high for a quarter and a $1.1 billion increase, or 25.3 percent, over Q3 2006.”
Add this to the news;
“Internet advertising revenues are on an annual run-rate exceeding $20 billion, further demonstrating the industry has truly come into its own,” said Peter Petrusky, director, Entertainment, Media & Communications Practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers. “The emergence of new platforms, including broadband video, rich …read more

Advertising is what makes the world go ’round eh? From the Facebook Ads article by Jessie Hempel found on CNNMoney;
“Facebook Ads follows an Oct. 24 announcement that Microsoft (MSFT) will take a $240 million equity stake in the site, valuing Facebook at $15 billion. The company is private and does not disclose numbers, but it is widely reported that Facebook earned a profit of $30 million this year on $150 million in sales. With a $15 billion valuation, that translates into 500 times earnings.
Industry analysts have long wondered how the startup plans to make money. Until now, Facebook’s advertising opportunities …read more