Yahoo will take home 5.8% of the $42.6 billion to be spent on
U.S. digital advertising this year, the research firm forecasted on
Thursday. By comparison Facebook and Microsoft will bank 7.4% and
5.9%, respectively. Google retains the lion's share of net U.S.
digital ad revenues at 39.9% of the pie.
Yahoo has been negatively impacted by "the rapid growth of
Facebook which is coming at the expense of competitors" and is
fueled by the social network's rocketing mobile ad business, said
eMarketer VP-communications Clark Fredricksen.
In August eMarketer had projected
Yahoo would close the year with a 7.7% share of net U.S.
digital ad revenues and secure the number-two spot behind Google.
Mr. Fredricksen said the eMarketer revised its forecast for Yahoo
because the portal has yet to show significant growth despite
investments in its display ad business and consumer products.
"Largely the change for Yahoo comes from a bigger overall pie
and faster growing competitors combined with the lukewarm results
issued in the past two quarters," he said.
Yahoo's share has seesawed not only with competitors like Google
and Facebook but also partner Microsoft. EMarketer has adjusted how
it appraises Microsoft in light of new data related to their share
of net revenue from the search alliance with Yahoo as well as
traffic acquisition costs, Mr. Fredricksen said. Interestingly
Microsoft felt the need last week to
publicly recommit to its digital advertising business.
Yahoo recently admitted that the
search agreement with Microsoft contributed 30 percent of Yahoo's
overall revenue through the first nine months of 2013.
Yahoo's 2013 worldwide digital ad revenue prospects are a bit
rosier. The company's 2.87% share will still trail Google's 31.9%
take and Facebook's 5.64% split, but is poised to edge out
Microsoft's 2.87% cut.