Online Publishers Association Releases 2004 Online Media Industry Year-in-Review

Business Wire, Dec 14, 2004

NEW YORK -- The Online Publishers Association (OPA) announced today that it has published its 2004 Online Media Industry Year-in-Review. Following a comprehensive analysis of the year's events, the OPA identified four key developments that shaped the online content business during 2004:

1. Web Content Crowned King By Consumers Worldwide. The Internet cemented its status as the primary and preferred information medium for consumers of all ages and one on which they increasingly depend. The pervasiveness of Web access and the ability of the Internet to provide what consumers want when they want it have made the Web the first place to turn for news, information and entertainment. And in 2004, for the first time ever, Content surpassed Communications as the leading Internet activity as measured by share of time spent online.

2. Broadband Booms, Breeds Online Fun. Broadband growth established itself as the key driver of content usage on the Web. More than half of all consumers now access the Web via broadband connections. With broadband, consumers spend much more time online than their narrowband counterparts, and a disproportionate share of that additional time is devoted to content, particularly activities related to entertainment and fun.

3. Rich Media Sparks Content, Advertising Revolution. With rampant broadband proliferation throughout 2004, marketers firmly embraced rich media and video advertising, resulting in far more compelling online ad creative than we've ever experienced. Similarly, through the increasing deployment of multi-media and video content offerings, publishers were able to capture the attention of a growing number of consumers and, in turn, provide advertisers with a platform and an environment through which to place creative advertising that incorporates sight, sound, motion and a level of measurability unavailable in other media.

4. Online Advertising Gains Mainstream Momentum. As the Web began cutting into television viewing and richer ad formats emerged, advertising budgets followed. Online advertising growth outpaced growth of the ad industry overall, with advertisers coming to regard the Web as an essential brand-building component to their media campaigns. This, in turn, led to phenomenal revenue growth among the major online media companies and a renewed enthusiasm for the medium as a whole.

The full OPA 2004 Online Media Industry Year-in-Review, complete with month-by-month developments, is available at the Online Publishers Association Web site at www.online-publishers.org/yir04.> About the Online Publishers Association

Founded in June 2001, the Online Publishers Association (OPA) is an industry trade organization whose mission is to advance the interests of high-quality online publishers before the advertising community, the press, the government and the public. Members of OPA represent the standards in Internet publishing with respect to editorial quality and integrity, credibility and accountability. OPA member sites have a combined, unduplicated reach of 110.5 million visitors, or 73 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience (Source: comScore Media Metrix, February 2004 combined home/work/university data). For more information about the Online Publishers Association, visit www.online-publishers.org.

This press release may be found at http://www.online-publishers.org