A forthcoming report by IDC estimates that online advertising in the U.S. reached $25.5 billion in 2007, and $7.3 billion in the fourth quarter.
It also puts Google’s market share of Internet advertising in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2007 at 23.7 percent, down half a percentage point from the third quarter. That is Google’s first slip in market share in two years. While Google’s overall U.S. sales (net of traffic acquisition costs that goes to pay partner sites) still went up 40 percent last quarter, it was not enough to keep its market share position compared to the overall industry. Damn those non-performing MySpace ads!
half a percentage point? thats it…its all over, sell your Google stock, close all your websites that rely on adsense…its ALL OVER people, the bubble is here
time for my location + android + location based advertising to take charge!
I certainly hope investors don’t get cold feet because of this report… this is nothing more than a hiccup. The more important aspect of that report is the overall growth of the online advertising market.
Steve Shapiro
http://www.digsby.com
Facebook??? Ha Ha Ha….people on FB aren’t looking for ads to click on, unless of course it is P O R N. Who wants to read ads when they’re trying so desparately to hook up to get laid. FB is full of Social Worms.
Google will recover. The giant is just taking a nap.
Is ANYONE surprised over this? I advised all my friends to short google on report day and boy were they happy!
So lets see, what could they possibly have done to hit a snag with AdSense?
- Made the clickeable zone of the ad smaller
- Lowered the referral rate of many of their affiliate-ads (By as much as 50%)
- Tossed out 1.000s of users from AdSense due to usage in iFrames (new idea from google)
etc. etc.
Online marketers are not stupid, AdSense;s glory days are over!
Andrew,
Half a percentage point is MASSIVE if it’s a fall from high growth and a break in a trend! Please. Think before you comment!
I think Dan is right about the clickable ad zone. I know they want to improve the quality of clicks, but they are ignorant to think that it wouldn’t hurt earnings.
What do we mean by “clickable ad zone”? have they limited the length of ad copy?
When everyone does the wrong thing, the right thing looks like wrong. In a world where every firm lives from quarter to quarter, it takes a lot of courage to make a decission that is good for the company but will hit your number for 1 quarter.
By taking a hit in the current quarter earning to improve the overall advertisement quality, Google has shown that courage, a rare commodity nowadays. Sadly instead of appreciating that, we are being critical.
Think about it, the reduced clickable zone means more targetted users to advertisers for the same buck. Where will they go next? Google only.
So, are you saying we’re back to punch the monkey/throw a tomato at the boy band ads? should still be plenty of room for optimization.
is it due to slowdown in USA economy
Bob, maybe they knew it would hurt earnings short term, but long term enable more advertisers to spend more $ on their campaigns?
Very possible, I’m just bitter as a publisher who dislikes the change
They can’t sustain the rate of growth indefinitely.
Sandeep,
It’s NOT the slowdown in the US economy. The number shows a negative growth in a business with a fourth quarter net growth..
Sandeep,
It’s NOT the slowdown in the US economy. The number shows a negative growth in a business with a fourth quarter net growth..
Blackberry; in a growing business - yes they can!
Google is growing below market in the US but above market in this tiny rest of world (with 2.000.000.000 online users and still growing). The us online population is overexposed to advertising, no additional roi in reaching the same eyeballs again and again. The US Americans in average get poorer so no reason to invest more against them. Google and other international companies already act accordingly and focus on rest of world.
so what is the plan B - if not advertising revenue, perhaps can look into contents now?
The more important aspect of that report is the overall growth of the online advertising market.
I think the investor from other country for google are lesser than other countries.
Welcome to Techcrunch the new anti-google propaganda machine sponsored by M$