Local Targeted Display Will Have Advertisers Seeing Double

The fastest-growing segment of online advertising is the local sector, projected to grow nearly 18 percent in 2011. The driving force, according to the Borrell Associates' 2011 Ad Forecast, will be local targeted display advertising such as banner ads.

Borrell forecasts that the use of targeted display ads by advertisers local to the markets in which their ads run will more than double in 2011, reaching more than $2.3 billion in spending totals. Overall, local online advertising spending should surpass $16 billion. Total online ad spending is poised to grow nearly 14 percent to more than $50 billion next year, fueled by anything targeted and everything involving social media as the two next fastest-growing segments behind local.

The streaming video ad format is expected to continue its dramatic growth of more than 60 percent in 2011, due largely to the influx of affordable tools that make it more easily accessible to small businesses. Because of that trend, two out of every five streaming video ad dollars will come from local advertisers next year, predicts Borrell.