Online advertising has changed since its inception. Advertisers have moved away from links and banners in search of tangible results. What they wanted was a guaranteed return on their investment. What they found: performance-based advertising.
The IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report released this past March reflects the trend toward performance-based advertising solutions. Among the report’s findings were a 6 percent increase in performance-based revenues over the past year, while CPM or impression-based advertising revenues decreased by six percent. The approximately 4 percent of 2008 full year revenues priced on a hybrid basis represented no change over 2007 figures.
The trend toward performance-based advertising is likely due to the model’s ability to alleviate advertising dollars wasted on an ineffective ad. In turn, advertisers are more comfortable putting their advertising funds into cyberspace, knowing that when they’ve found the right combination, they will gain the return they’ve been looking for.