MAM
Internet advertising in US soars 22% to $31 bn
MUMBAI: Revenue by way of Internet advertising in the US soared 22 per cent to $31 billion in 2011. The bulk of last year‘s spend went to search and display advertising, according to a report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PwC.
The numbers show the growing importance of digital among advertisers who are choosing to place more dollars on websites, smart phones, and tablet devices to reach consumers.In contrast, newspapers have seen a drastic and steady fall. It is reported that advertising revenue in newspapers was $23.9 billion in 2011, down more than 50 per cent in a five-year period.
The report also found mobile advertising increasing 149 per cent to $1.6 billion in 2011. While mobile advertising experienced the fastest growth of all the categories, it still represents a tiny sliver of advertisers‘ total spend. Search advertising remains the largest part of overall spending coming in at $14.7 billion, up almost 27 percent from the prior year.
Display advertising, which includes video, banners and big splashy formats, rose 35 per cent to $11.1 billion.
Another category showing significant growth was advertising associated with digital video. Compared to $1.4 billion in 2010, revenue reached $1.8 billion last year. This represented a 29 per cent year-over-year gain.
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
