Digital adsales network Pixel Media reported a strong decline in sales after the Boxing Day quake, which registered 7.1 on the Richter scale and damaged undersea broadband cables near Taiwan. “It had a severe impact on business,” said Kevin Huang, Pixel Media CEO.
As many websites could not be accessed, digital ads could not be served. In particular, said Huang, ad revenue was hit hard from December 27 to 30 - with China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore being the main countries affected.
Cathay Pacific, meanwhile, pulled ads from websites in Hong Kong that weren’t accessible during the breakdown. These included major portals such as Yahoo, MSN, Apple Daily and the South China Morning Post, said Albert Chong, manager of loyalty marketing. The airline expected to resume normal advertising activity in mid-January. Meanwhile, OMD had to delay the launch of some digital campaigns because of the disruption, said Lawrence Wan, digital director, Greater China.
However, a source from Yahoo Asia-Pacific said internet traffic was already down due to the holidays. As repair work continues, Huang said internet traffic had returned to almost normal levels.
