Brands to Spend $1.8 Billion on Social Networking Sites by 2010 .MySpace will change the advertising landscape

eMarketer: Social networks are now an integral part of the cultural fabric of the Internet, and their rapidly growing and demographically appealing audience has attracted the attention of advertisers. Marketers will pony up an estimated $280 million in the US to advertise on MySpace and its competitors in 2006. By 2010, that online advertising spend will grow to $1.8 billion.

How big a chunk of that total spend will go to MySpace? Since parent company, News Corp. lumps its Internet investments into an other category of revenue, there are few hard facts available. Based on quarterly revenue in that category and other factors, eMarketer estimates the company will generate $180 million in US ad revenue this year.

Despite the rapid growth of this area, social network ad spending will account for only 1.7% of the $16.7 billion spent on US online advertising in 2006, rising to 6.3% in 2010. Although this is a small percentage of the online advertising pie, advertising on social networks will teach marketers important ways to reach newly-empowered consumers. Social networks will have an incalculable influence on all advertising, both online and offline.

Social Network Marketing: Carving Out Some MySpace Publ 20060725