Following the same growing trends of the last decade, internet advertising in the U.S. is reported to have increased over the previous year by 10.5%, according to a recent eMarketer report.   And that growth pattern is expected to continue until at least 2014, when the positive change will probably meet a 57% increase in comparison to the current year.

While this substantial forecast is for the U.S. market, where the study has been undertaken on dozens of companies, consider the global trend, which has seen an exponential increase of internet use in marketing as well. It is predicted an average increase of 12% per year.  We’re seeing hints of this level of development, with growing interest around brands advertising online through display ads and other methods, expanding their verticals to retail and luxury goods.

The positive trend in terms of budgeting online advertising is a confirmation of its effectiveness: relative low cost, advantageous ROI rate and a broad market target. This is a valid recipe for online advertising, now considered by more and more marketers.  The efficiency can be measured in terms percents, where 2010 is related to an average of 15.3% of the total advertising budget of a firm in U.S., and the predicted ratio for 2014 will be closer to 21.5%.

The report found that the most common type of online publicity is still paid search and banners – for small and medium companies, where well established businesses invest in video promotional materials, which are more expensive but have a better exposure.  Traditional media sectors have always been a little anxious to truly monetize the digital realm, generating revenue from advertisements and new methods of marketing.  The New York Times, which has been getting more proactive about the digital distribution of its publication and advertisements, is even witnessing an upturn in related activity.  The printed media company released a statement regarding its high expectations, saying,

“Our results reflect the steady progress we have made this year,” said Janet L. Robinson, president and chief executive officer. “The improvement in print advertising trends and solid growth in digital advertising reaffirms that advertisers are committed to reaching our sizeable and highly desirable audience across multiple platforms. We have remained vigilant in managing our expenses and re-engineering our cost base, and as a result we expect our full year 2010 operating profit excluding depreciation, amortization, severance and special items to show significant improvement over 2009.”

The Company expects fourth-quarter print advertising revenues to improve from third-quarter levels, with a decline of approximately 4 percent year-over-year, although it has limited visibility into December. Digital advertising revenues continue to post healthy gains and are expected to be up approximately 10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010. Circulation revenues are expected to decrease 4 to 5 percent in the fourth quarter.

It remains to be seen whether or not internet ad spending is occurring at the disadvantage of traditional marketing forms, but we are seeing more ways for that traditional market to integrate with new, web-based campaigns.  While there’s still competing reports on the benefits and effectiveness of certain ad formats (like display ads), niches like online video are introducing new ways for the traditional ad sector to loop back into internet advertising. The growth of online TV channels is a prime example of this expanding opportunity.