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Latha Venkatraman

Mumbai , May 6

INTERNET advertising is waiting to explode especially in sectors such as entertainment and telecom.

Internet and Online Association (IOA), which has estimated that the number of Internet users will go up to 100 million by 2007, believes that advertising budget in these two sectors should grow by double-digit numbers.

"Currently, online advertisements from these two sectors is negligible," says Ms Preeti Desai, President, IOA.

A study by IOA revealed that 80 per cent of the respondents use the Internet for more than five hours a week. Basic online activity includes e-mail, chatting, work and surfing, among others.

Movie-related content, both online as well as on the mobile phone, leads to huge traffic, says Ms Desai.

At present, the number of Internet users is 25 million, of which 55 per cent belongs to the 20-40 age group. This, according to Ms Desai, opens up a huge opportunity for online advertising, especially in sectors such as entertainment. Besides, 54 per cent of the online audience watches one or more movies a month. The preference is for Hindi and English movies with a substantial chunk of those surveyed also indicating a preference for regional movies. This, according to Ms Desai, could open up huge prospects for online ticket buying.

"Over the next 12 months online ticketing will grow fast. All the multiplexes are focusing on online ticketing," she said.

The study also threw up the statistics that 72 per cent of users book their tickets in advance. E-commerce, according to her, has arrived and settled.

The study also pointed that 55 per cent of the Internet users seek a review of the film online. And many of them also prefer one-line reviews through mobile phones. Ms Desai said that television viewers also prefer reviews.

Mobile users are also willing to pay for film-related content - ring tones, SMS contests and alerts.

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