Web Advertising vs. Internet Advertising

Web advertising vs. TV advertising:

First, let’s take a look at the status of the advertising industry.
There is no doubt that the web competes with other advertising channels such as TV and newspapers. Advertisers and business owners recognize the power of online advertising. So far, TV advertising represents 36 percent of all advertising. Newspapers represent about 35 percent. Magazines take 14 percent of the advertising industry. Internet advertisement is a small percentage of the $120 billion-a-year advertising industry (about 4 percent in 2002) (Boswell 2002). What is clear is that Internet advertising is growing rapidly. No wonder that business owners take notice. Companies advertise on the Internet for several reasons. More and more television viewers are migrating to the Internet. Forrester Research found that over three-quarters of PC users are giving up some television time to spend more time on their computers (Legmanilla 2003). A November 2001 study conducted at UCLA confirms this trade-off. According to an Arbitron Internet Information and Edison Media Research survey (McDonal 2001), people between the ages of 12 and 24 clearly prefer the Internet (47 percent to TV (26 percent), and one-third of all Internet users would give up t heir televisions before giving up the Internet access. This gap will grow in the future, especially with the new technology coming to cell phones that offer Internet access (King, D. et al. 2004).

Business owners favor Internet advertising because they like interactivity. They know the potential viewers will want to interactive and rich media. An ad in a print publication or on TV will not offer statistics tracking the number of people who actually saw the ad or even opened the page featuring an ad. Print ads cannot be rotated based on the number of times someone opens the page, and ad number two appears the next time. Print or TV ads cannot be filtered only to female readers who earn over $50,000, own a home and work in a hospital or university. Of the people who look at the ad, the advertiser cannot even record the time consumers spent looking at it. In the case of the TV ads, the only piece of hard data available for traditional advertising is the estimated viewing audience of the TV program. Everything else is guesswork. However, the world of online advertising offers much more information and feedback. Special tracking and ad management programs offered for ads on portals, online magazines, and almost every type of Web site in existence enable advertisers to do all the things mentioned here and more. In a study conducted by Meeker (1997), the length of time it took for each ad media to reach 50 million was examined. Meeker found that it took radio 38 years, television 13 years, and cable TV 10 years to reach 50 million users. It took only about 5 years for the Internet to reach 50 million viewers. According to these statistics, the Internet is by far the fastest growing medium of communication. It makes sense that the advertisers are interested in a such a medium with such potential reach, both locally and globally.

Now, there are other reasons why Web advertising is superior to TV advertising. They are: a). Cost (Online ads are sometimes cheaper than those in other media. In addition, ads can be updated at any time with minimal cost. b). Richness of format (web ads can effectively use the convergence of text, audio, graphics, and animation. In addition, games, entertainment, and promotions can easily be combined in online advertisements; Personalization (web ads can be interactive and targeted to specific interest groups and/or individuals); Timeliness (Internet ads can be fresh and up-to-the-minute); Participation (The Web is a participatory tool. Many people can communicate with each other in the context of an online community); Location-basis (Using wireless tech, web advertising can be location based; Internet ads can be sent to consumers whenever they are at a specific place (maybe at a stop light, near a restaurant, near the beach for hotels, etc.); Digital branding (consumers are willing to pay premiums for brands they trust).