State of Online Advertising Research

I went to a couple of sessions of a IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) Europe on Friday afternoon. They were presentations of research prepared by various members and associations within the IAB.

For the most part the presentations were continuing to emphasise the uptake and consumer enthusiasm for the internet. It's the kind of research that, in the UK at least, was useful about two years ago, before broadband was ubiquitous. Now, stating that x% of people in the UK are online is a bit like saying that y% of people in the UK live in London. It's a big number but is not surprising to anybody and has little practical application.

The next step forward for online research, with the exception of isolated client-specific projects, will be when there is the critical mass to really unravel what it is that people do online and how this relates to their 'real' lives. Heather Hopkins , at Hitwise, publishes interesting perspectives on a pretty regular basis.

Online advertising has got to the point where it's no longer enough to say how many people are online. We now need to make a pretty sizeable leap to the types of insights that are delivered 'offline' around segmentation of populations, understanding of purchase 'triggers' and analysis of offline and online interaction.

We're working on a couple of isolated but forward-thinking projects in the agency. For the most part, however, within the industry there still isn't the budget and expertise to deliver strategic media/marketing thinking that effectively includes online.