Internet Yellow Pages partnerships with social media was a hot topic at DMS this year, so this caught my eye this week: According to a new study from Nielsen, online advertisers are quickly ramping up spending in social media as consumers devote more time to the space.
The report found that social network and blogging sites accounted for 17% of user time spent on the Internet in August 2009, three-times the percentage of time spent on the sector a year ago. The spike generated a 119% increase in ad spending on top social media sites, from approximately $49 million in August 2008 to about $108 million in August 2009. The share of ad spending for social media with regards to total online spending has more than doubled, from 7% in 2008 to 15% in 2009.
While overall online ad spending dropped year-over-year in many sectors, social media ad spending increased in every industry in August 2009. Top sectors included:
- Entertainment – up 812% on social network sites vs. up 40% on all sites
- Travel – up 364% on social network sites vs. down 11 percent on all sites
- B2B – up 184% on all social network sites vs. down 8% on all sites
- Automotive – up 178% on social network sites vs. down 26% on all sites.
“In the past, advertisers had significant concerns with social media advertising,” said Jon Gibs, vice president, media and agency insights, Nielsen’s online division. “The considerable increases we’ve seen in ad spending over the past year suggest that many of these concerns have subsided or been addressed.”
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