Andy Jamieson: Entrepreneur

As the US faces what is certain to be a recession, although has anyone officially been willing to call it that yet? The elasticity between job security and economic conditions appears to be tightening, and logically so. So what career should new graduates be looking to enter?

Aun comments that “if you picked a career in Internet advertising you made a wise decision.”

The rationale for this decision is based heavily on the growth rates that the industry continues to enjoy and that look to be strengthened, if there is an economic slow down, due to the disruptive forces that the medium wields, namely accountable marketing. Looking at the US stats as reported by IDC, we see that in Q4 07, internet ad spending totaled $7.3 Bn, up 28% on Q4 06. This quarter-on-quarter growth reflected the yearly movements where 2007 calendar year was up 27% year-on-year.

Interestingly IDC estimates the revenue, by market share, for each of the large media companies:

1. Google 23.7%
2. Yahoo 11.4%
3. MSN 5.6%
4. AOL 5.2%
5. Fox Interactive Media 3%
6. InterActive Corp 1.5%

The total revenue shared between the top 6 equals 50.4%. Considering that these media players should be able to extract higher revenues, due to market size, i wonder if revenue % overstates the audiences and related engagement that they are able to capture. Do they cover 50.4% of all the web audience movements? I doubt it. Therefore, one wonders, where does this other 50% of revenue go? As marketers, how can we access these sites which i assume could provide more value for our marketing dollars, which with a recession, might become even more accountable.

So, the question remains, if i am to choose a career in Internet Advertising, should i go work for the big 6 or should i find a niche publisher or work in another capacity within the industry, maybe in an in-house or agency roles?

Finally, if you want a job or think you are interested in one within this field and you are based in Australia or Asia, please drop me a line - info at switchedonmedia.com.au, we would love to hear from you.

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