Figure Watch — When ads click

Advertising on the net is on the rise. Though it is still much lower than most net experts expect, it growing rapidly. By the end of this year, the total ad spent on the net would cross $1 billion and by the turn of the century, it is expected that the figure would be about $4.5 billion.

This figure though would still be only about 2.6 per cent of the total advertising in all media put together. But it would be good jump over the 0.6 per cent today.

The companies which advertise the most on the internet are technology companies. Microsoft is the top among them. It spent $24 million on the net in fiscal 1997 which will increase by 70 per cent in fiscal 1998. Other companies like IBM, AT&T, Nynex and Netscape are big advertisers too.

The non-technology-based companies like Toyota, General Motors, Visa and Disney are finding the internet useful as well and are increasing the ads they put on internet.