Recession fails to dent online advertising revenues in India
29 Jun 2009
The recessionary environment that has affected the media sector with greater force has also affected the internet advertising revenues in the US and UK.
For the first quarter of 2009, according to reports released recently by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), there has been a five-per cent decline in online advertising revenues over the same period in 2008 in the US.
Last year, in the United Kingdom online display was the only display medium to grow by 7.7 per cent to £637.4 million, accounting for 19-per cent of all online advertising expenditure.
What has the online advertising story in India been? Uma Sivakumar, head of online services for web solutions provider Tribal DDB India, says, "The last two quarters of 2008-2009 saw a slump in advertising, the reasons for which, I guess, range from clients having exhausted budgets in the first two quarters and not having enough to spend in the remaining two, to a sudden crash in sales leading them to become conservative or being unsure of the times to come and hence holding on to the purse strings."
"The year 2009-2010 started on a better note for most, maybe because the expectations have become more realistic and also the new year has offered scope for better budgetary planning and allocation. An example is the telecom sector which is active again thanks to the multiple launches. Most big sites that posted losses last year are expecting to cover them in the next few months."
Says Krishna Kumar, founder and CEO of Media2win, "Unfortunately, in India, there is nobody that audits spends to specific levels on a quarter on quarter basis. While the internet revenue has grown over a full year period, I presume there might be a slight drop on a quarter on quarter basis given the market conditions were a lot different same time last year."
