Media Economics Group today released fourth quarter data confirming that traditional advertisers have become the dominant advertisers on major sites and portals in Latin America and Spain. These data are among the most recent findings from the company's LatinWebMonitor competitive intelligence service, which monitors online advertising activity.

In the fourth quarter, Online Media (portals and content sites) were the single-largest category among online advertisers (23%). However, the vast majority (77%) of active online advertisers during that period were in the Consumer, Financial Services, Retail, Telecommunications, and other "traditional" advertiser categories.

"Fourth quarter data show that traditional advertisers in Latin America view online advertising as an important channel for marketing their consumer brands," according to a company spokesperson.

"In addition, these findings are broadly consistent with trends in the U.S. Hispanic online market as well, where traditional advertisers accounted for the great majority (82%) of advertised brands during the fourth quarter. Furthermore, the make-up of the top advertising categories was similar with the Consumer, Financial Services, Retail, and Telecommunications categories also topping out the list in the U.S. Hispanic online market."

The top categories (and selected advertisers) for Latin America and Spain in the fourth quarter were:

1. Online Media, 23% ( e.g. AreaUtil.com, Baquia.com, Casino on Net, Filmes.net, Gemelo.com, etc.)

2. Retailers, 12% (e.g. Amelia.com, BrasTemp, Deportes Marti, Liverpool, Office Depot Mexico, etc.)

3. Consumer, 12% (e.g. Antarctica, Coca-Cola, Chokos, Danone, Nestle, Pepsi, Samsung, etc.)

4. Financial Services, 12% (e.g. Banca Serfin, BBVA, Banco do Brasil, ING, SulAmerica, Unibanco, etc.)

5. Telecommunications, 9% (e.g. Adetel, AT&T, Avantel, Embratel, Motorola, Nextel, SkyTel Mexico, etc.)

6. Technology, 6% (e.g. 3Com, Acer, Cisco, Compaq, HP, Intel, MS, Xerox, etc.)

7. Traditional Media, 6% (e.g. 20th Century Fox, Claxson, Colombia TriStar, Disney, MVS, etc.)

8. Automotive, 6% (e.g. Audi Brasil, Daimler Chrysler de Mexico, GM de Argentina, Volkswagen, etc.)

9. Govt/Non-profits, 5% (e.g. Caritas Argentina, Cruz Roja Espanola, Fundacion Teleton, Unicef, etc.)

10. Education, 3% (e.g. EF Intl, ITAM, Tec de Monterrey, etc.)

11. Other, 6%

- Source: LatinWebMonitor.com, January, 2002.