WebProNews

According to new data from TNS Media Intelligence, Internet phone company Vonage spent over $185 million on display ads in 2006, outspending competitors Verizon Communications and display ad giant Netflix.

The budget share for display and classified ads will remain unchanged through 2011, with paid search gaining ground and rich media along with video increasing according to eMarketer senior analyst David Hallerman.

A December 2006 study by Datran Media found that display ads remain an important tool for US marketers, ranking behind only email and search marketing. Display ads were named as important by more than twice as many respondents as online video.

While display ads were among the top three most important advertising tactics for US marketers, 31 percent named ad networks as being effective and 27 percent favored both contextual targeting and traditional direct marketing.

With Vonage, AT&T and Verizon all airing TV ads, multimedia campaigns are more successful than only using a single media type exclusively.

A Yahoo study released by comScore Networks in December found that campaigns that include both search and display advertising are able to grab consumers attention and are more effective than those viewed individually.

Online users who viewed both search and display advertising campaigns increased their share of page views compared to competing sites by 68 percent and time spent by 66 percent.

Worth noting is that those who were exposed to both search and display ads, purchases of the advertiser’s products and services increased 244 percent online and 89 percent offline compared to online users who never saw these ads.