While Mark Twain was talking about his own death, there is another reported death that I am thinking about. Back in January 2009 I included a quote about banner ads being the next direct mail. I mean no offense to direct mail but the implication was that the value of a banner ad was diminishing. The belief was that banner ads were being replaced by social media, which is a disruptive technology much in the same way that e-mail marketing has replaced direct mail in many industries and situations. Direct mail still is a valuable channel but it is being used more selectively than it once was.
Well reports of the death of the banner ad might be premature. A recent study by eMarketer predicts that banner ad spending in 2010 will be up 8.2%.
| US Online Ad Spend Growth by Format (% Change) | ||||||
| Format | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
| Video | 38.6% | 48.1 | 42.7 | 43.4 | 34.7 | 33.0 |
| Search | 1.4 | 15.7 | 8.6 | 10.1 | 5.9 | 7.0 |
| Banner ads | 3.8 | 8.2 | 6.7 | 11.8 | 7.7 | 4.8 |
| Lead generation | -13.8 |
5.5 | 6.6 | 8.4 | 7.0 | |
| Sponsorships | -1.0 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 6.3 |
| Rich Media | -8.3 | 4.7 | 3.5 | 4.7 | 3.0 | 3.1 |
| -27.9 | -5.4 | 4.4 | 7.9 | 2.4 | 3.6 | |
| Classifieds | -29.0 | -13.1 | -8.3 | 3.6 | 2.2 | 3.0 |
| Total | -3.4 | 10.8 | 8.4 | 12.1 | 8.9 | 9.3 |
| Source: eMarketer, May 2010 | ||||||