If you’re thinking about advertising on Facebook, you should probably get that sorted out soon. According to the Financial Times, the price of advertising on Mark Zuckerberg’s social network has risen 74% over the past year, with costs continuing to escalate as big brands take their ads online.
The 74% rise is in cost-per-click, marketing firm TBG Digital told the Financial Times, with display ads rising “just” 45% in the last 12 months, an increase likened to another giant by TBG’s Simon Mansell:
“In my experience of digital advertising this is the biggest growth that we have seen since Google. The main difference is that this is being fuelled by brand spend rather than [direct] response spend. That is an inflection point for the whole digital marketplace.”
It’s a comparison also being made by Ian Maude from analytics company, Enders Analysis, who told the Financial Times:
“They have an awful lot of inventory but there is increasing demand for it, so prices are going to go up. It’s a similar story to the early days of [Google’s] AdWords.”
Costs are expected to keep rising throughout the year, with one analyst suggesting an 80% overall rise by the end of 2011. Google: Maybe you should start looking at the possibility of ads in Google+ already.
More: Amazon Starts Selling Ads Based on Your Browsing History
Graeme McMillan is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @Graemem or on Facebook at Facebook/Graeme.McMillan. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.