Audience Shift Continues to Drive Ad Dollars Online in the $40 Billion Global Automotive Advertising Market

In-depth report on the auto advertising vertical from Kelsey's new 'Marketplaces' advisory service reveals significant share shifts from traditional to online media.

PRINCETON, N.J., Dec. 13 -- Annual revenues in the automotive advertising market will hold steady globally at $40 billion through 2011, according to The Kelsey Group, the leading provider of research, data and strategic analysis on directories, small-business advertising and online local media. However, according to a report from the firm's new continuous advisory service, Marketplaces: Verticals, Classifieds & E-Commerce, titled, "Automotive and the Internet: A Category in Transition," as the audience continues to shift online, auto advertising dollars will also move from traditional to online media.

"Our new Marketplaces practice is designed to analyze audience and ad media fragmentation," said Neal Polachek, chief executive officer, The Kelsey Group. "This report on the automotive vertical explains why and where the shift is occurring in the auto sector."

Among the report's findings is that the Internet's share of auto advertising dollars on a global basis will grow from 5 percent in 2007 to 13 percent in 2011. During the same period, traditional classifieds' share is expected to decrease from 14 percent to 10 percent and newspapers' share is expected to decline from 17 percent to 14 percent.

"The Kelsey Group has been the leading analyst firm covering the transition of national offline advertising to online local advertising," said Mark Cannon, senior vice president and chief product officer, Autobytel. "We are eager to see The Kelsey Group now diving into the auto category and other key vertical markets in order to shed light on the opportunities and challenges in these rapidly changing markets."

"The autos category, along with real estate and travel, has enjoyed the deepest, most sustained experience among all verticals in the shift online," said Peter Krasilovsky, Marketplaces program director for The Kelsey Group. "For the auto industry, the Internet represents an ongoing battle between third-party sites, OEM sites and dealers. There is unlikely to be a winner-takes-all outcome. But who gets the upper hand depends, in part, on utility to consumers, ability to create a brand and degree of local interaction."

"Automotive and the Internet: A Category in Transition" is available to clients of The Kelsey Group's new continuous advisory service, Marketplaces: Verticals, Classifieds & E-Commerce. Future Marketplaces coverage will include an in-depth report on the real estate advertising market.

About Marketplaces: Verticals, Classifieds & E-Commerce

Marketplaces is the source for tracking emerging local vertical trends and products, with an emphasis on key ad networks surrounding such verticals as auto, dining, education, entertainment, groceries, health care, home and garden, home services, legal, personals, pets, real estate, recruitment, senior care, shopping, travel and weddings. As the classified industry continues to change and move online, Marketplaces provides key insights and guidance on emerging trends, identification and tracking of new verticals, best practices, and product development in the local classified advertising industry. Marketplaces brings together The Kelsey Group's expertise in traditional classified advertising, directional media and local online search, providing essential guidance for newspapers, directory publishers, portals, local search providers, suppliers and investors for leveraging the local classified and vertical marketplaces.

To learn more about Marketplaces, visit http://www.kelseygroup.com/services/marketplaces.asp.

To request an excerpt of the "Automotive and the Internet" report, contact Steve Vasil at svasil@kelseygroup.com or (905) 468-8786.

About The Kelsey Group

The Kelsey Group is the leading provider of research, data and strategic analysis on directories, small-business advertising, online local media, vertical market advertising and mobile advertising. Founded in 1986, the company has built a reputation as the premier analyst firm covering the directory publishing community and the emerging local search marketplace, providing advisory services (The Kelsey Report(R), Interactive Local Media and Marketplaces), publishing (Global Yellow Pages(TM)), consulting (more than 400 individual assignments) and conferences (70 events).