The FINANCIAL — Facebook will grow its net US display revenues this year by another 80.9% to $2.19 billion, eMarketer estimates. This will push it past Yahoo! to become the No. 1 display ad-selling company in the country.
This near-doubling of display ad revenues is actually a slowdown in growth for the social networking giant, which posted triple-digit display ad revenue growth in 2009 and 2010 when its display revenues were at relatively low levels. Next year, growth will slow further to just 31.3%.
“Facebook’s supreme popularity—both in terms of numbers of people and amount of time they spend there—creates a plethora of display ad impressions, mainly for its unique form of banners,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer principal analyst. “And that popularity is also boosting what advertisers will pay for its display ads.”
Google is also posting solid growth this year after more than doubling display ad revenues in 2010. Microsoft, Yahoo! and AOL will all make double-digit gains as the total display market rises 24.5%.
The estimate for Facebook is likely on the conservative side, especially for 2012, and may possibly be adjusted upward when eMarketer revises its social network ad revenue estimates in August 2011.
Even so, Facebook will account for 17.7% of the display ad market this year, rising to 19.4% in 2012. Yahoo! will hold on to its second ranking, dropping from 13.1% of the display market this year to 12.5% next year, when Google will edge up to 12.3%.
“Display revenue growth at Google will come from three main sources: large advertisers who are already Google customers, the range of SMBs who have relied on search for years but are looking to expand their reach, and brand marketers looking to YouTube to widen their video advertising reach,” said Hallerman. “Google is looking to make display a natural extension of search.”
Google’s planned acquisition of online display ad optimization firm Admeld is just the latest indicator of the search company’s increased focus on the display market.
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