And while it isn’t approximating the extraordinary rates of growth online ad spending had during the period surrounding the dot-com boom, online’s 10.5 percent growth during the first half of 2003 (MDN Nov. 11), nonetheless grew at four times the rate of the overall advertising marketplace.

As a result, online ad budgets picked up nearly half a point of U.S. ad market share during the first half, one of only a few media to boost their market share. According to the Monitor-Plus data, national TV outlets (network TV –1.58 percentage points, cable TV –1.05 points and syndication –0.20 points) took the biggest budget share hit, while national magazines (+1.30 points) and local newspapers (+0.83 points) were the only media to increase their shares more than online.

Online’s first half boom was driven by an especially strong second quarter, which grew at nearly 14 percent, the medium’s biggest quarterly expansion since the fourth quarter of 2000, when online ad spending rose 19 percent and the last before it began to recede.

First Half Ad Market Share By Medium

                    First Half ’03   First Half ’02   Point Change


Online                   6.56%            6.13%          +0.43


Network TV              20.75%           22.33%          -1.58


Cable TV                12.70%           13.75%          -1.05


Syndicated TV            2.82%            3.02%          -0.20


Hispanic TV              2.32%            2.02%          +0.30


Spot TV                 19.91%           19.75%          +0.16


Network Radio            1.13%            1.19%          -0.06


Spot Radio               3.84%            3.88%          -0.04


National Newspapers      1.50%            1.61%          -0.11


Local Newspapers        13.87%           13.04%          +0.83


National Magazines      14.13%           12.83%          +1.30


FSIs                     0.47%            0.45%          +0.02