US Spending on paid social network advertising is forecast to reach $1.3 billion in 2010, a 7.1% increase from the estimate of $1.2 billion for 2009––but a decline of 4 percentage points as a share of worldwide spending, according to research from eMarketer.
Non-US paid social networking advertising is forecast to grow more robustly, to $2.5 billion, in 2010, a 14% increase from the $2.2 billion estimated for 2009.
Social networks will remain a priority for marketers in 2010 as a significant portion of their spending will be allocated to building and maintaining a social network presence, known as earned media, according to eMarketer, which forecasts that paid social network advertising will take a back seat to other spending priorities.
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"Concepts such as earned media, local social advertising, social search and social ad networks will be key themes next year," Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the Social Network Ad Spending: 2010 Outlook Report, is quoted as saying.
"Paid advertising will not be the primary focus, but it will serve to drive traffic and engagement with the larger social network presence," she is quoted as saying.
In addition, Facebook will surpass MySpace in ad revenue in 2010 and account for nearly one-quarter of worldwide social network ad spending, up from 20% in 2009, eMarketer forecasts.
