Search engines are now being recognised as real business enterprises, but the industry still faces challenges, says Mark Buwalda, MD of South African search portal Ananzi.
"In Ananzi`s experience, larger advertising agencies have, for the most part, been reluctant to take advantage of advertising on the Internet, but this kind of advertising has proven to be very successful, and we would like to see the Internet become more popular as a medium for advertising in the future."
He says there are various reasons for the reluctance to advertise on the Net. One is that agencies often don`t know what the Internet can do.
"I`ve had cases where we would go to a client, the client was absolutely convinced that it would be a good idea and what happens is that the agency then takes over, with no real experience in it, and in round three we die, because then they decide well the budget`s too high, you`ve quoted us too much, and then it gets kicked out.
"We try to make a difference to the bottom line of the business while they want to do branding exercises, positioning and all that kind of stuff."
However, he believes perceptions will change, particularly with the formation of the Online Publishers` Association (OPA), of which Buwalda is deputy chairman.
The OPA announced recently it was using Nielsen/NetRatings SiteCensus across its membership, aimed at addressing advertisers` concerns about the accuracy of information concerning demographics of Internet sites.
Buwalda says perceptions are changing, particularly with regard to advertising by small to medium-sized enterprises.
"Small to medium in this country is tiny in comparison to some of the European countries, but even so they want to reach people. They want to reach niche areas. And also they`re able and capable of reacting quickly to a lukewarm lead that just happens to come through the Internet.
"Yet they can`t spend the money to go into newspapers and other print magazines to reach the larger audience and yet with the Internet it`s reasonably easy. We have more than 700 000 unique users. You try to find a newspaper that does that."
He says US search engine Google`s decision to list its shares is also a positive development for the Internet industry as a whole, and that alone is helping to change perceptions.
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