Formats in vogue include larger interactive ads, HTML emails and streamed pop-up ads. The efforts were less about building awareness and more about building transactions. Executives and analysts say fourth-quarter Internet ad sales won't be as frenzied as last year and will slow in the first quarter because of the usual sales slowdown after the holiday season in the United States. The bubble we saw was unsustainable, and that's over. But the doomsayers are wrong.
Online advertising is healthier than it's ever been.
In comparison, traditional advertising had a banner year in 2000 with 9 percent growth. But next year, analysts predict growth to slow by half, reaching only about 4.5 percent. Inc. All rights reserved.