Online advertising displayed strong gains for Q3 2010, according to comScore, a leading online advertising intelligence service. Nearly 1.3 trillion display ads were delivered to U.S. Internet users, which was a 22% increase over last year. This is promising news after the softness in much of 2009 and a strong indication that digital advertising is on the rise and on track to acquire a larger piece of the advertising market.
Facebook.com led all online publishers in Q3 2010 with 297 billion display ad impressions, a 23.1% market share. Facebook’s market share has increased 13.9 percentage points from 9.2% in Q3 2009. Yahoo! Sites ranked second during this quarter with 140 billion impressions, followed by Microsoft Sites with 64 billion impressions, and Fox Interactive Media with 48 billion.
AT&T ranked as the top online display advertiser in Q3 with 21.1 billion impressions, accounting for 1.6% of display ads. Scottrade ranked second, followed by Verizon, with 14.6 billion impressions.
These increases can be attributed to many growth drivers, including the ability to buy specific audiences, which enables a larger number of display ads to be delivered on target, higher quality creative, and the rapid improvement of display formats. Overall, these findings leave the impression that digital advertising will continue to climb.
Karen Bleier is media director at MDG Advertising. MDG Advertising, a full-service Florida advertising agency, with offices in Boca Raton and New York, NY, specializes in developing targeted, Internet marketing solutions, exceptional creative executions and solid branding and media buying strategies that give clients a competitive advantage. To view MDG corporate identity projects, collateral design, TV and Web design, click here.