“The online advertising giant has awakened!” ~ Shar VanBoskirk, Forrester Research, Inc. May, 2007

In the context of the companies finding new ways to connect directly to customers, some are asking the question “Who needs advertising?”

Media experts are suggesting that the explosion of online interactive media such as blogs and social networking sites are taking the companies ever closer to the customer. This phenomenon is bound to negatively impact the advertising industry.

Worldwide ad spend is reportedly about $448 bn per annum. Online ad spends are growing at about 19% per annum globally. 70% of Americans are online (Internet World Stats 2007), Your Competitors Are Online - Google has a network of 800,000 advertisers and growing (Piper Jaffray 2007)

Search Drives Sales, Both Online and at the Retail Channel, For every dollar spent online, the average search user spends $2.56 offline, Search influences 20%-30% of purchases made at retail locations (eMarketer 2007). Now Search is not Just About Sales, 57% of all online marketers use search to enhance brand awareness .

Are the days of advertising coming to an end?