Web 2.0 Growing Faster Than Online Video, News

Web 2.0 Growing Faster Than Online Video, News

Web 2.0 sites--defined loosely in the session as those allowing users
to "talk" to their "friends" via e-mail, messaging, blogs, and other
social media tools--ranked first in year-over-year growth in unique
audience and Web pages viewed. That put Web 2.0 ahead of categories
including news and information, ISPs, video and movies, and family
resources.

トラフィック急増サイトFeedburner (385%), Digg.com (286%), MySpace (170%), Wikipedia (161%),
and Facebook (134%).

のびると思われるサイトyelp, which has user restaurant reviews; dogster, for dog
lovers; online gaming community Xfire; Eons, aimed at baby boomers 50
and over; and video-sharing service BitTorrent.

The panelists also agreed that advertising will be the predominant
business model for Web 2.0 sites. de Souza said advertising falls into
two categories: Class 2, or remnant, and premium. Remnant advertising
typically carries a CPM of less than $1, and is bought through large ad
networks such as Advertising.com. A frequency cap is usually negotiated
as part of the buy. Conversion rates hover at less than 0.1%--better
than many news sites, but not as good as on premium sites such as
iVillage, de Souza said.

Premium Web 2.0 ads have CPMs ranging from $2 to $20, and are bought
directly by advertisers. They encompass a broader range of formats
including sponsored groups, customized page backgrounds and online
promotional contests.

Overall, most of the advertising on social sites is now text or banner
ads from direct marketers, "definitely the lower end," as de Souza
described it. But he said that during the last year, Web 2.0 sites had
begun carrying higher-level brand and targeted advertising. He said
that over time, the remnant advertising on social sites would also
become more valuable as the sites became better at targeting the ads.

Buchwalter predicted a bright future for video advertising--in
particular, for Web 2.0 sites. "There's no question video is going to
play a huge role," he said. Market researcher eMarketer forecast online
video advertising to grow to $2.9 billion by 2010 in a study released
Monday.