KPCB Internet Trends: Ad Dollars Shifting from Print to Online

Tl;dr Ad dollars aren't evaporating, they are just following eyeballs from off-line to on-line.

Mary Meeker's 2012 "Internet Trends" presentation also serves as the basis for this post -- there may be a few more to come. It really is a great presentation, and worth going through. Anyhoo...

I've talked in some recent posts comparing the value of eyeballs on traditional media to new media.

Below are a few screenshots from Ms. Meeker's presentation, that I think further support my overall point (or, maybe, I actually support hers? Kind of hard for the completely obscure anonymous netizen to claim support from a titan of online industry...)




I think these graphs pretty strongly show that the money is not disappearing, it is just being redistributed. Money is moving from off-line to on-line, and a lot of organizations (read: newspapers, television, radio, movies) are worried that they will not be able to make enough money, or any money, online. I simply do not think the numbers support this proposition, above.

I still argue that online ads, when properly done, can be more valuable than offline ads, because they can actually be targeted to consumers. Of course, I also say this as someone who very rarely clicks on online ads. But then again, I also never really paid attention to TV ads, so I don't think I'm the target consumer. In any event, online advertising provides many more meaningful ways to actually connect with users than offline advertising ever did, and, as it evolves, traditional media outlets will be able to take increasing advantage of this phenomenon. So the money isn't going away, it's just moving around.