Internet ad sales growth hitting a plateau

Although Internet sales increased significantly by 10.6 percent between 2007 and 2008, the economic recession is flattening growth, according to the Internet Advertising Revenue Report released Monday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, The New York Times reported.

Cable television spending also rose by 7.8 percent, while non-Internet media revenue slid by 2.4 percent. Internet revenue dipped during Q1 and Q2 for the first time in four years and online advertising in 2008 grew much less than it did compared to the same time a year ago. On the other hand, digital video revenue more than doubled in 2008 from 2007, according to the report.

Although sponsorship advertising fell in Q4, online advertising from consumer-packaged good companies increased from $925 million in 2007 to $1.5 billion in 2008, The New York Times reported. This increase is "something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. People didn't think this would be the right space to be selling grocery-type products," said Peter S. Fader, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.