Google Take 44 Per Cent of Global Ad Market

Google has been dominant in the internet marketing game for a number of years, but were you aware just how dominant? With increasing competition in digital marketing, SEO, web analytics etc, you might think that the search might be losing ground, but in fact the behemoth is actually gaining ground.
 
According to new data from ZenithOptimedia, in 2006, Google's share of the global internet, ad market was just over a third at a shade under 35 per cent. Yahoo! was its closest competitor, with around 19 per cent. In 2010, Google controlled some 44 per cent of the market, with Yahoo! remaining the runner up but now at just 8.3 per cent. Biggest gainer over the period has been Facebook, who took just 0.2 per cent of the market in 2006 but just over 3 per cent in 2010, a percentage that is likely to have doubled again this year, surpassing Microsoft.

Google is also now the engine behind around 85 per cent of all searches, with Microsoft, Yahoo! and AOL supporting just 13.8 per cent between them. Paid search accounts for half of internet marketing spend, growing at around 16 per cent a year, although that growth has slowed due to a diversion of some spend to mobile experimentation. Display advertising is also growing healthily under trying economic circumstances, at just fewer than 19 per cent a year.

Overall, Zenith is cautiously optimistic about the growths in global ad spend for the next three years despite the global economic uncertainty. Events such as the Olympics, European Football Championship and US Presidential Olympics give 2012 a boost, combined with Japan's recovery from the devastating earthquake and tsunami. So a slight ray of sunshine in the economic gloom, from one notable forecaster, at least.