Web-Ad Brokers in Economy’s Crosshairs
There was an interesting article in a recent print edition of The Wall Street Journal about how there may be tough times ahead for the more than 300 advertising networks on the Web. The online edition of TWSJ is not a freebie, so I will summarize.
The article relayed the information many of us saw in the blogosphere or on the newswires: In recent weeks, JellyCloud and Adzilla have shuttered, while AdBrite is laying off 40% of its workforce. It also mentioned that America Online in September reported a softening in ad buys from clients in the B-to-C categories of automotive, financial, telecommunications and travel.
A more dire tidbit from the article was a quote from Ross Sandler, an Internet analyst at RBC Capital Markets, who said: Other ad networks “are in severe trouble and could be closing their doors in the back half of this year or the beginning of ’09. People are bracing for the worst.”
Am I another reporter trying to proliferate messages that may cause marketplace fear and panic? I don’t think so..
I found this article interesting for our audience simply because many of our readers depend on these networks as part of multichannel campaigns. For the next 6-9 months, it’s not a bad idea to keep pinging your agency to ensure that the network you’ve been using is still on solid footing.
Categories: Automotive, Branding, Channel Marketing, Consumer Electronics, Consumer Marketing, Consumer Packaged Goods, Ecommerce Eretail, Email Marketing, Marketing, Online Advertising, Online Marketing, Search Marketing, Social Networking Evangelism Community ad networks, AdBrite, Adzilla, AOL, JellyCloud, RBC Capital Markets, Ross Sandler
