Micro Advertising, The Time Is Right

A senior online ad industry figure last week told me that the reports they had seen indicated that there was no growth in the online video advertising market in the UK between 2007 and 2008. The figure in 2007 was around £9m according to the IAB/PwC.

This situation is astounding and has stopped a whole industry in its tracks. But there are some clear reasons for this:

1) Media buyers are notoriously over-worked, under-paid and like to try and keep their lives very simple. So, as long as it appears on DART or other similar tools they might countenance it; but only if it has mass scale

2) Internet TV is great at delivering targeted, valuable audiences, but curtrrent advertising is all about buying volume

3) Online Tv audiences tend to be global whilst ad dollars are local

4) There is a total lack of an online marketplace to aggregate online video advertising

5) There are practical issues, such as clearing rights for the ads for internet delivery

But the current downturn is likely to throw up new models and opportunities; advertisers will force the agencies to work harder. A similar phenomenon saw the rise of direct marketing at the time of the 1987 recession.

As it's estimated that the ITV shunned up to $2m in online revenues from Susan Boyle videos on YouTube, it has to be asked, who will step up to the mark ?

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