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Triple-Digit Growth for Blog, Podcast and RSS Advertising

Combined blog, podcast and RSS ad spend by the end of 2005 totaled $20.4 million, a 198.4 percent increase over the 2004 levels for user-generated online media - and is projected to climb 144.9 percent in 2006, reaching $49.8 million, according to a new report, “Blog, Podcast & RSS Advertising Outlook,” from PQ Media,
arketingVOX reports. Total spending on user-generated online media is forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of 106.1 percent from 2005 to 2010, reaching $757.0 million in 2010.

The blog ad market is the largest of the three, at $16.6 million accounting for 81.4 percent of total advertising in 2005, followed by podcast advertising at $3.1 million and RSS at $650,000.

The blog market is expected to remain the largest of the three user-generated media in 2006, climbing 117.8 percent to $36.2 million. By 2010, however, blog ad spend is projected to account for 39.7 percent (at $300.4 million), behind podcast ad spend, which is expected to total $327.0 million, or 43.2 percent; RSS ad spend is projected to reach $129.6 million in 2010.

Technology, automobile and media brands have spent the most in user-generated media ad spend, $11.1 million, accounting for a combined 54.5 percent in 2005; food & beverage and apparel round out the top five categories, with 19.0 percent. Tech was the largest category in ad spend in 2005, at $4.0 million; auto was second with $3.9 million; media was third with $3.2 million.

Ad insertions through advertising networks (e.g., Pajamas Media and Federated Media for blogs; PodShow and PodTrac for podcasts; and Pheedo and FeedBurner for RSS feeds) and cost-per-click ads (e.g., Google AdSense) are the top two advertising methods, having generated $8.0 million and $7.8 million, respectively, in 2005. Advertising networks are the largest ad insertion method, accounting for 39.2 percent, or $8.0 million, of user-generated media spending in 2005, followed closely by click-through insertions at $7.8 million, or a 38.2 percent share.

However, affinity programs (such as LinkShare and Shareasale), which offer website publishers payment when a consumer purchases an advertised product online, are expected to be the fastest growing method from 2005-2010, growing at a compound annual rate of 130.8 percent.

National advertising dominates user-generated online media, accounting for 98.1 percent of total spending in 2005 at $20.0 million, but as more local content is created and the importance of local search increases, its share of ad spend is projected to grow to 9.3 percent in 2010.