E-mail’s Tiny Ad Share Gets Smaller: IAB

While overall U.S. Internet ad spending dropped by 5.3% to $10.9 billion from the first half of 2008 to the first half of 2009, e-mail ad spending became even more of a rounding error than it already was, according to a recent study by the Internet Advertising Bureau.

E-mail ad spending for the first half of 2009 was $149 million, or 1%, of all Internet ad spending, compared to $230 million, or 2%, of all spending in the first half of 2008, according to the IAB.

Not surprisingly, search led Internet ad spending, accounting for 47%, or $5.1 billion in the first half of 2009, compared to 44% or $5 billion in the first half of 2008.

Search was also the sole sector that showed growth between the two periods.

Online display advertising was the second-leading source of online ad spending and remained relatively steady, accounting for $3.8 billion in both periods and 33% and 34% of all online ad spending in the first half of 2008 and 2009, respectively, according to the IAB.

Online classified-ad spending dropped from 14% or $1.6 billion in the first half of 2008 to 10% or $1.1 billion in the first half of 2009, according to the study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers on behalf of the IAB.