While there are many statistics out there about how online ad spend is increasing year on year, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at what we know about user response to online advertising. Just how effective are the various channels?

From Marketing Charts - News Media Less Effective at Conveying Ad Messages (Dec 2 2008)

• Only 28% of the audience of an average news program, website or magazine gets valuable information about products and services advertised there, making news venues less effective at conveying ad messages than all forms of media combined, according to consumer research from Experian Simmons.

(The sample comprises 68,000 respondents each year.)

From eMarketer - Blogs Hot, but Not for Every Campaign (Dec 1 2008)

• Only 5% of US online shoppers surveyed in September 2008 by Harris Interactive for RetailMeNot.com said they used blogs to find good deals.

From CMO Council - Facts and Statistics  (accessed Dec 4th 2008)

• Spending on behavioral targeting will increase to $4.4 billion by 2012.

Most Effective Online Advertising Targeting Techniques:

• Behavioral 52.4%
• Demographic 32.9%
• Contextual 30.5%
• Geographic 14.6%
• Other 4.9%

Source: American Advertising Federation

At a glance: U.S. Moms

• Half of online moms turn to Web sites at least once a week to find out about family-oriented products or services, nearly 37% learn about new products through online ads and nearly 46% turn to search engines.
• No. 1 driver of word of mouth among moms is the Internet, more so than TV, magazines or in-store displays.

Source: Marketing News TM; C&R Research; Johnson & Johnson, 2008

From New Media Update - Podcast Ads 7 Times as Effective as Television Ads (April 2008)

• The companies studied podcast advertising from February 2006 to March 2008 across multiple product categories and ad types. Unaided awareness for podcast ads was 68%, compared with 21% for streaming video and 10% for television.
• The studies showed a 73% increase in likelihood to use or buy an advertised product.
• The studies showed that 69% of audience members have a more favorable view of in-show advertisers.