Ad Network Spending to Increase

Not surprisingly, a recent eMarketer survey concluded that spending with Ad Networks will increase significantly during 2008. The study showed that the main reason why the rise was so sharp was due to the fact that advertisers are now becoming more comfortable using Ad Networks for multiple marketing objectives including direct marketing and branding.

Ad network usage by both brand advertisers and direct marketers rose by nearly 20 percentage points in the 2008 study to 59.2%. Only 13.4% of advertisers said they only used ad networks for direct marketing purposes in 2008.

However, if you look at a second survey, the real reason why agencies believe that there is value in Ad Networks is due to their ability to target more effectively than buying inventory on individual sites.

Maybe Ad Networks' targeting technology has improved in the last few years but having worked as a media planner (granted on the traditional side) for several years, it was always my understanding that Ad Networks gave a plan reach moreso than the ability to go after specific customers. Is it possible that because Ad Networks are now more widely accepted among clients that they're simply finding their way into media plans because it's less work for an agency to recommend several networks versus many individual sites? Who knows for sure but it's certainly something to consider.