Due to the combined health of the stock market and the extraordinary interest in online investing, the financial sector increased its Internet advertising outlay by 107.1%. Overall, Internet advertising not only jumped 85.9% ($1.910 billion from $1.027 billion a year ago) but also gained recognition among advertisers as an important communications channel, hitting 2.1% of the total multimedia advertising expenditure ($89.2 billion).

This information was issued today by CMRinteractive, the division of Competitive Media Reporting dedicated to providing advertisers and web publishers with the intelligence on advertising occurrences and expenditures on the Internet. The mix of companies among the top 25 Internet advertisers reflects the changing nature of the medium as a valuable vehicle for an array of products and services. Microsoft ($36.2 million), IBM ($27.1 million), General Motors ($21.4 million), HP ($16.2 million) and First USA ($14.6) made up the top 5. Toyota and Honda joined GM in their commitment to the Internet and others in the finance category include MBNA America Bank, Fidelity Investments, Datek Online Brokerage, Visa and NextCard. Proctor & Gamble represented the packaged goods category in this list.

Further evidence that Internet advertising continues to diversify is reflected in the increase in the amount spent by computer-related companies but the decrease their percentage accounts for in the total. The category spent $663.1 million — an increase of 44.4% over last year — but the category's percentage of overall Internet advertising dropped by 10% ($459.3 million represented 44.7% in 1998 and — even more to the point — $275.0 million represented 50.5% of all Internet advertising in 1997).

Looking at the Internet next to traditional media, the computer category (no surprises here) dedicated the highest percentage to the Internet — 20.1% of their overall advertising budget; the charge was led by online and Internet services and business software applications. General business and technology items followed at 11.9% spent on the Internet; schools, camps and seminars came in at 5.11%, local services (citysearch.com for example) spent 4.21% on the Internet and the financial category came in at 3.9% of its total.

CMRinteractive, a division of Competitive Media Reporting, monitors and provides the most complete industry detail on advertising occurrences and expenditures on the Internet. CMRi tracks approximately 300+ websites and 400+ industries, analyzing brands, web publishers, industry activity and growth trends on the Internet.

Competitive Media Reporting is the leading provider of strategic advertising intelligence, serving advertising agencies, advertisers, broadcasters and publishers. The company's tracking technologies collect occurrence and expenditure data, as well as the creative executions of over 900,000 brands across 15 media. CMR is headquartered in New York City and maintains sales locations in major markets throughout the United States. For further information, visit http://www.cmr.com.

Editor's Note:
Traditional media and Internet advertising expenditures by specific industries, categories, companies and brands are available by calling Daniel Prince & Associates — (212) 213-9060.