In 2004 rich media advertising accounted for less than 10 percent of all online advertising. Despite the fact there is always a lot of talk about this solution and the growth of broadband Internet access, investments are still limited. But the situation is going to change soon. A new white paper by eMarketer Rich Media: At the Tipping Point expects revenues from rich media advertising to reach $2.2 billion by 2008 (in the United States). The paper, which is sponsored by Advertising.com, can be downloaded for free (opens .pdf).

Among the interesting stats the paper presents, I think the online advertising effectiveness should get particular attention. If compared to traditional banners, rich media usually obtain better click-through rates (look at page 7). Unfortunately, "better" is positive qualification in a comparison, but appears rather disappointing if you look at the rates from an higher perspective. According to Doubleclick, rich media accounted for an average 1.17 percent click-through rate in Q3 2004, which is surely "better" than the 0.20 percent of non rich media ads, but it's always a very low percentage. Sure, you'll tell me online advertising is also about branding, but yet, 1.17 still looks very low to me.