Friday, June 15, 2001

Streaming Media Ad Spending to Grow

Spending on streaming media–enabled promotion and advertising will grow exponentially during the next four years, as increased residential adoption of broadband access service sets the stage for corporations to embrace fresh ways to deliver their product marketing messages to consumers, according to a Report released today by the Yankee Group's Internet Market Strategies practice.

Streaming media–enabled advertising consists of more than just inserting advertising messages into audio and video content online. It also encompasses online product information and infomercials made available by companies that users can retrieve on-demand, giving birth to a potentially lucrative environment for media companies able to connect consumers and product manufacturers during key points in the online buying process. Boosted by the higher fees created by on-demand marketing opportunities, spending on all streaming media–enabled advertising will grow to $3.1 billion by 2005 from $44 million in 2000, the Yankee Group estimates.

"Broadband Web users looking to research major purchases will be able to tap into a broad array of videos providing information on cars, computers, vacations, and other big-ticket items," said Yankee Group analyst Steve Vonder Haar. "This is multimedia content that helps people get things done. It represents how the Web is best suited for delivering video with a purpose rather than video for couch potatoes."