Media&Marketing: More than €105 million is spent on outdoor advertising sites every year with public transport, particularly the Luas, proving to be a popular option.
With about 60,000 commuters using the light rail service every day, advertisers appear keen to access the kind of passenger on board. According to a new figures by outdoor advertising specialists Posterplan, the ABC1 audience available has boosted interest in taking advertising on the carriages and at platforms.
It is understood that over 52 per cent of the Luas passengers fall into the ABC1 category.
About 45 per cent use the service to go to work, but some 21 per cent are en route to a shopping venue, most likely the new Dundrum town centre development. This is on the Green Line, which runs from St Stephen's Green to Sandyford, with 13 stops in all.
According to the new survey, over three quarters of the commuters notice advertising placed on the Luas.
"Luas advertising is particularly effective for targeting ABC1s, with 80 per cent of ABC1 females noticing Luas advertising and 66 per cent of ABC1 males.
"About 50 per cent of those who notice Luas advertising are aged between 20 and 34 years," states the survey.
While the rates are not cheap, major consumer brands have been taking space, including fashion retailer H&M.
The Luas service is operated by French company Connex Transport, while Irish Rail operates the Dart service.
Irish Rail also offer advertising space on the Dart service, with Viacom holding that sales contract.
French company JC Decaux hold the contract for the Luas.
With the Luas and Dart - at least for now - serving different parts of the city, the advertising sector is providing the only true competition between the two services.
Google's ad woes
Things are not going so well for internet search engine Google these days. Its share price has taken something of a dip and now it is being sued over accusations that it overcharged advertisers.
The company, which is expected to defend the action, is accused of overcharging advertisers who use the company's paid search advertising program, which accounts for the vast majority of Google's revenues.
The proposed class-action suit, filed in California, accuses Google of charging in excess of advertisers' "daily budgets" under which Google allows an advertiser to limit how much it spends. Google said the allegations had no basis.
The suit claims Google "engaged in conduct which injured members of the general public, including the plaintiffs".
The suit adds that it is "impossible to determine the exact amount of the injury without a detailed review of Google's books and records".
The suit was filed by Hanson Industries, based in Minnesota, and other advertisers.
It also accuses Google, based in Mountain View, California, of disputing complaints from advertisers regarding the company's pricing practices and for not reimbursing what the suit called "unlawful" charges.
Google, the biggest player in the global internet advertising market, gets the vast majority of its revenue from web search advertising.
UK circulation
It will be interesting to see if UK newspapers circulating in Ireland receive a boost from coverage of the July 7th bombings in London.
The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) will release data for UK newspapers in Ireland this Friday, with figures for Irish newspapers themselves to follow on September 1st.
In London, a 15 per cent drop in Tube passenger numbers is likely to take a toll on sales returns, but other observers believe the heightened interest in the bombings and their aftermath should offset this.
The UK newspapers here certainly need a sales boost. The figures from January to June show all daily UK titles falling back, except the Daily Mail and Times. For example, the Daily Express, owned by Richard Desmond, was down over 17 per cent, while the London Independent dropped by 14.5 per cent. The Financial Times was down 5.2 per cent to 4,201.
In the Sunday market, the picture was similarly bleak, with only the Mail on Sunday recording any kind of increase (1.9 per cent). Ironically, this increase for the Mail may have been at the expense of Ireland on Sunday, also owned by Associated Newspapers.
