IAB: First-Half Internet Ad Revenues Of $10B Up 27%

IAB President/CEO Randall Rothenberg calls it the "Oh my God, it happened" year for major marketers as the shift of marketing budgets to online channels marches on. Search continued to account for the highest dollar spending, at 41% of the total. Still, Rothenberg says, more efficiency and simplicity are needed for spending to really take off.

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Murdoch: Internet Is Bigger Than News Corp

Despite its vast media holdings, News Corp. is dwarfed by the enormity of the Internet, says chief Rupert Murdoch. "We don't dominate anywhere," says the media mogul. News Corp. remains "a tiny fraction" of the media universe, with the public well able to find differing opinions elsewhere.

Marketwatch has the story.

Microsoft to Battle Google in Advertising

Brian McAndrews, the head of Microsoft's recently acquired Internet advertising company aQuantive, says he intends to beat Google's DoubleClick. Microsoft aims to provide advertisers with a log of all the online locations where people see ads before going to advertisers' Web sites.

New York Times has more.

IAB and Lead Generation Committee Release Best Practices for Lead Generation

The Lead Generation Committee and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) have today released the Lead Generation Data Transfer Best Practices.

At the most practical level, the document will help standardize the transfer and reception of data between advertisers and lead generators.

Two major considerations served as guidelines for the final product:

* Security - lead generation data should be encrypted
* Common format and set up - the data must move in a common format through mainstream, secure internet technologies

"The committee encourages advertisers and publishers to implement these best practices and comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations to responsibly support the continued growth of this very important category," said SVP Gayle Guzzardo of Product Management at Q Interactive. She is also the Lead Generation Committee Chair.

Per the IAB/PwC 2006 Full Year Internet Advertising Revenue Report, lead generation revenue totaled $1.3 billion out of all 2006 advertising revenues ($16.9 billion), up from a (now seemingly paltry) $753 million in 2005.