MEDIA-I: HK dotcom adspend plummets 56pc in Q1

<p>Hong Kong's dotcom adspend for the first quarter of this year plunged </p><p>almost 56 per cent to HKdollars 178.2 million. But recruitment websites </p><p>and online publications bucked the general downward trend. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to figures released by ACNielsen, dotcom advertising, which </p><p>stood at HKdollars 162.8 million for the whole of 1999, jumped an </p><p>astounding 738.2 per cent last year to almost HKdollars 1.4 billion. But </p><p>with the bursting of the dotcom bubble, many internet companies have </p><p>slashed advertising and marketing expenditure this year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, ACNielsen found Career Times magazine beefed up its adspend by </p><p>more than 1,504 per cent in the first quarter of 2001 to HKdollars 3.9 </p><p>million, compared with the same period in 2000. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Oriental Daily also increased spending by more than 205 per cent to more </p><p>than HKdollars 6 million, while recruitment website jobsdb.com stepped </p><p>up advertising by more than 25 per cent in the first quarter of this </p><p>year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Hugh Bloch, managing director of ACNielen eRatings.com said: "What's </p><p>most striking about these figures is how much online recruitment </p><p>websites, such as jobsdb.com, are spending on offline advertising. Those </p><p>are some incredibly high figures." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MindShare managing director, KK Tsang, added: "Online recruitment </p><p>portals like jobmarket online, Career Times and Pandaplanet.com are </p><p>spending more money on advertising this year compared to pure internet </p><p>portals. However, the revenue income of recruitment portals is different </p><p>from mainstream portals, as their income comes from clients who tend to </p><p>buy their online products and services. This means online recruitment </p><p>portals are much more willing to increase their adspend, not only to </p><p>increase their membership base, but also to attract clients to buy their </p><p>online services and products." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MarketCatalysts' head of media, Deryk Tang, warned that he expected a </p><p>further drop in dotcom advertising in the second and third quarters. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The most obvious reason is a lack of money. Lots of dotcom companies </p><p>have been reducing expenses or should I say their burn rates over the </p><p>past nine months now that the bubble has burst. Certainly pure internet </p><p>companies, without the backing of traditional businesses, can't really </p><p>afford to spend more. Also, since the number of dotcoms has fallen </p><p>sharply and there are relatively few newcomers, the total market has </p><p>shrunk," said Tang. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He added ad agencies and media owners should prepare for "further </p><p>pressure" in coming quarters. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Bloch said he did not expect dotcom adspend to pick up in the coming </p><p>quarters. "I think here we will continue to see a fall in the next two </p><p>to three quarters. Also, the fact they are still advertising offline </p><p>suggests a lack of confidence in the internet." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>