Posted by Rene LeMerle

The Online Ad Revenue figures for Q1 2009 are out, and whilst the result was strong, highlights that even the online space isn’t immune to overall economic conditions.

Internet Advertising in the US reached $5.5 billion in Q1 2009 according to a report by the Internet Advertising Bureau and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Compared to traditional advertising mediums, this is still a solid result, but given online advertising’s meteoric rise over the past 7 years, the result will disappoint a few in the industry. Q1 2009 represents the first year-on-year revenue decline since Q1 2002.

Whilst online advertising is definitely attracting a significant proportion of corporate marketing budgets thanks to unrivaled targeting, accountability and flexibility, it doesn’t protect is from the curse of all marketing mediums – tough economic times.

David Silverman, a PriceWaterhouseCoopers partner reiterates the reality of the outcome:

Current economic conditions are clearly challenging. Nonetheless, interactive media continues to consume a larger piece of the overall advertising pie.

Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the IAB continues:

…interactive media continues to gain share of marketing spend. We’re confident that growth will resume as the U.S. economic climate improves. Interactive advertising is the most accountable way to reach consumers—and in this economy, digital media will be a core component of any successful marketing campaign.

So online marketing is only human (so to speak), but the experts agree that this result is only a temporary hurdle in the continued growth of the space.

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About the Author: Rene is the marketing manager of ineedhits.com - a global search engine marketing company. He also leads the marketing for Gooruze.com - a web 2.0 style community for online and digital marketers. Rene has been in the industry since 1997 with much of that time spent helping businesses embrace the best of the internet and digital world.