$1.7bn social network ad spending in US in 2010

According to a study published by eMarketer, 6.7% of all US online ad spending to go toward social networks this year, meaning around $1.7bn .

Social network advertising is getting a lot of attention in 2010, when the gradual economic recovery from US and marketers’ focus on reaching consumers determined companies to increase seriously their investments in social media advertising.

eMarketer estimates that US advertisers will spend $1.68 billion on social networking in 2010, +20% more than in 2009. according to the same estimates, spending will rise to more than $2bn in 2011.

The estimates mention that Facebook will receive half of all social network ad spending in the US, MySpace continues to diminish in importance, while Twitter is a raising star.

In social media, an increasingly important role is given to online social games and applications. eMarketers estimates that advertising is not a primary revenue stream for game companies such as Zynga (Farmville on Facebook), but their large audiences, reason why the estimates show that those type of companies will attract $293 million in spending worldwide in 2011, from $220 million in 2010.