Ongoing Shift of Marketing Dollars from Traditional to Online

A new 34 page report that has been published eMarketer estimates that US online advertising spending will reach $25.1 billion in 2010, a 5.5% increase on previous estimates.

Much of the growth is being attributed to the growing shift of marketing dollars from traditional to digital media, much of which as a result of the rapidly evolving ecosystem built on top of the social Internet—blogs, Twitter, Facebook, word-of-mouth and viral campaigns.

The new report, however, is not necessarily all good news; especially for the economy at large. “Still, economic blue skies are not seen everywhere in the ad world,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report “US Ad Spending: How Big Is the Bounceback?” “Ironically, spending growth online is partially attributable to economic instability.

“The anxiety attached to the still-healing economy encourages marketers to bet more on ‘sure things’—and the ability to measure Internet ads, especially search, makes them more sure than most traditional ad spending,” he said.