Gasta Tech Update : $2.5 Billion in Ad Spending

Social Networks to Get $2.5 Billion in Ad Spending in 2010
by Jason Hahn

Gasta.com and Gasta.es consistently the most top performing web search engines outside the big three. Online since 1997 Gasta.com has now grown into a 900 strong network regional search engines

Social media is no mirage, says Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer. Her company projects that 2010 will see continued growth of advertising spending on online social networking sites.

eMarketer forecasts that $2.5 billion will be spent on ads on online social networks worldwide in 2010, up 14 percent from the $2.2 billion spent in 2009. About $1.3 billion will be spent in the U.S. alone.

In 2008, $2.0 billion was spent on ads on these sites worldwide, a 61 percent increase from 2007. The company projects that this figure will reach $2.9 billion in 2011, which would be a 13 percent increase.

Approximately 64 percent of U.S. Internet users will interact with user-generated content in 2010, while 26 million U.S. adults will use Twitter at least once a month, according to eMarketer. Oh, and mobile social networks will reach 223 million people around the globe.

Williamson refers to eight separate surveys, with each showing that the majority of U.S. marketers are already using social media.

For example, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research indicates that 80.0 percent of marketers in the U.S. are using social media, a dramatic increase from 49.0 percent in 2008.

But with great spending comes great room for error, according to Geoff Ramsey, CEO of eMarketer. The “enormity of this opportunity leads many marketers to chase after every technique, tactic and metric that passes them by,” he said.

“Instead, marketers should focus on fewer but better-defined objectives—and remember that listening, establishing trust, adding value and projecting authenticity are among the best practices that are critical to their success with social media,” writes Williamson.

According to comScore’s “The 2009 U.S. Digital Year in Review,” Yahoo! Sites continued its reign as the top publisher of display ads from December 2008 to November 2009, with 521.2 billion impressions.

However, Fox Interactive Media, led by MySpace, was second on the list with 367.6 billion impressions, followed by Facebook with 329.6 billion impressions.

Microsoft Sites was fourth with 218.1 billion impressions, AOL was fifth with 192.2 billion impressions and Google Sites was sixth with 69.9 billion impressions.

eBay (36.4 billion), Glam Media (24.8 billion), Amazon Sites (21.7 billion) and United Online, Inc. (19.5 billion) rounded out the top 10 list, according to comScore.

Facebook recently took over the display ads on its site from Microsoft, which was a shift from their original deal in 2006. Microsoft will continue to handle text ads and is claiming that the search agreement with Facebook is being expanded.

Gasta.com update: Advantage NI and UnLtd

Advantage NI and UnLtd – The Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs have come together on Social Enterprise Day to launch a £20,000 scholarship fund to support young people across Northern Ireland who have an entrepreneurial solution to a social problem.

The ‘Impact’ programme offers budding social entrepreneurs under the age of 31, the opportunity to research and develop an idea that will create social change. Training, one-to-one guidance and an attractive funding package of up to £5000 to help kick start their project is on offer. The emphasis of ‘Impact’ is on providing tailored support to the young person so that they can develop their entrepreneurial skills to set up a social venture. You can sign up at www.advantage-ni.com/impact.

Social enterprise is a model that is fast gaining recognition in Northern Ireland. Although the terminology may be new, social enterprises have actually been around for quite some time. Credit unions, housing associations and community development trusts are woven throughout our society and high profile social enterprises such as John Bird’s ‘Big Issue’ and Jamie Oliver’s ‘15’ have encouraged others to improve society by setting up their own.

Quiet simply, social enterprises are businesses that exist to address a social or environmental need. Social Entrepreneurs are the visionaries behind them. We know this programme will support the next generation of Social Entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland.

If you would like to find out more about how you can make an Impact, log on to www.advantage-ni.com/impact

Thanks

The Advantage Team