Editor's Note:
In
the distant past of 1995,
InfoWorld was my primary source
of technology information.
I found that by following
the magazine, and never missing
a Bob Metcalfe or Stewart
Alsop column, my tech education
was progressing nicely. I
even discovered that I was
better informed than my superiors,
and that helped me move up
the IT food chain.
An InformationWeek article
reminds me of how far the
Internet has gained in importance
for tech information. That
article notes how revenue
for the news and trade markets
grew 8.7 percent in 2004,
but will likely be half that
in 2005.
That doesn't come as much
of a mystery to those following
the online advertising industry.
Jupiter Research noted last
month that revenue from search
engine ads will double within
five years to nearly $19 billion.
Yahoo had more than
$1 billion in online ad revenue
in the first quarter of 2005;
that rose to $1.25 billion
for the second quarter. Google's
second quarter ad revenues
were slightly higher at $1.36
billion. All that money comes
at the expense of other media
outlets, as the print world
has seen.
Part of that change has happened
as users switched from waiting
for the weekly trade journal
to arrive to going online
for answers. Search engines
like Google and Yahoo turn
up multiple sources for pretty
much every tech issue that
exists.
Sites (besides
the two mentioned) supported
by advertising revenue, and
blogs created by individual
users, have picked
up that traffic.
According to research firm
Outsell's Market View report,
individuals are spending 15
percent less on printed news
and trade journals than they
did in 2001.
The article discusses how
the news and trade industries
have seen print ad revenue
drop, and that lower cost
online ads aren't covering
those losses. As online ads
gain in importance, a rise
in their rates will eventually
offset that print ad revenue
loss.
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