Billions will be spent in online advertising and social networking, but if the predictions are right then Facebook probably won’t be one of the companies being sold this year.
That eight billion dollars Peter Thiel thinks they can get for Facebook would be eight times the money spent for social network advertising in 2007.
According to analysis firm eMarketer, the whole category of social networking might be worth $1 billion for the year, when it comes to online ad spending. That would be more than double 2006’s $445 million, and could come as specific niche sites begin to appear.
Total online ad spends could come close to caressing the $20 billion mark in 2007. Although that would indicate a lower growth rate than in past years, total US ad spending is only expected to move up by a paltry 1.4 percent.
This means advertisers driving the 19 percent growth in online ad spends for 2007 will choose digital over other media options in increasing numbers. If the world of old media wants to hang on for the ride, 2007 looks like the year they will need to find a foothold and think a lot of happy thoughts.
Travel should help drive business to consumer e-commerce for the year, with eMarketer expecting $223 billion in B2C sales. $91 billion of that would come from the online travel industry, with the remainder coming from retail sales.
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David Utter is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
