In a watershed moment for the Web, researchers expect domestic online advertising to finally surpass print adverting in 2012.
According to eMarketer, U.S. online ad spending — which grew 23% to $32.03 billion in 2011 — will grow an additional 23.3% to $39.5 billion this year. By contrast, total spending on print newspapers and magazines is expected to fall to $33.8 billion in 2012 from $36 billion in 2011.
While difficult to quantify — except in sheer dollar terms — eMarketer credits Madison Avenue’s growing comfort level with the Web for driving online advertising.
“Advertisers’ comfort level with integrated marketing is greater than ever, and this is helping more advertisers — and more large brands — put a greater share of dollars online,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer principal analyst.
According to Hallerman, the increasing amount of time that consumers spend with digital platforms, along with advertisers’ increasing recognition of the Web as a more measurable medium — particularly as the soft economy forces businesses to be more accountable with their ad dollars — have contributed to digital’s growing footprint.
