Time spent on social network and blogging sites accounted for 17% of all the time Americans spent online in August 2009, nearly triple the percentage of time (6%) spent on the sector in August 2008, according to recently released data from Nielsen.

"This growth suggests a wholesale change in the way the Internet is used," said Jon Gibs, vice-president of media and agency insights for Nielsen's online division. "While video and text content remain central to the Web experience, the desire of online consumers to connect, communicate, and share is increasingly driving the medium's growth."

Online Display Ad Spending on Sector More Than Doubles YOY

Estimated online advertising spend on the top social network and blogging sites increased 119% year over year, from approximately $49 million in August 2008 to approximately $108 million in August 2009.

The share of estimated spending on these sites has also grown, increasing from a 7% share of total online ad spend in August 2008 to a 15% share in August 2009.

Although several industries decreased their total online ad spend from August 2008 to August 2009, spending on the top social network sites increased across the board.

The entertainment industry led in growing its online ad dollars, with an increase of 812% in ad spending on the top social network sites. Travel advertisers increased their ad spend on these sites 364%:

Key findings:

• After entertainment and travel, the industries with the highest percentage increase in ad spending on social networks were B2B at 184%, automotive at 178%, and health at 143%.
• Even as several sectors decreased their overall online ad spend, they increased ad spending on social networks: The hardware and electronics sector reduced overall ad spending online by 47% yet increased ad spending on social networks by 56%. The software sector cut its overall online ad spend by 29% but increased ad spending on social networks by 128%.

"In the past, advertisers had significant concerns with social media advertising," said Gibs. "The considerable increases we've seen in ad spending over the past year suggest that many of these concerns have subsided or been addressed. In particular, advertisers that want to connect with core fan bases, such as movie studios, are allocating more and more dollars to online communities like Facebook and MySpace, where they can engage in an ongoing dialogue with their target market."

Facebook Draws Advertisers in Most Industries

The growth in ad spending on social networking sites has been fueled in part by the explosive growth of ad spending on Facebook, to which many industries now turn when planning where to allocate their online ad dollars:

Key finding:

• Among 13 top industries, only 3—entertainment, financial services, and hardware and electronics—devoted more advertising to MySpace than to Facebook.

About the data: The Nielsen AdRelevance service uses a proprietary methodology for estimating online advertising expenditures and takes into account only image-based technologies and advertising sold per CPM. The data cited above includes compound ads, but it does not reflect house advertising activity, strategic partnerships between publishers and advertisers, or text units, paid search, sponsorships, email, units contained within applications (e.g., messengers and pre-rolls), or performance-based advertising.