"What Recession?" Says $40 million in VC Money for Online Video Ads

There are nearly 2 billion internet users worldwide today.  Advertisers have taken note - and media companies selling the ads are raking in the bucks...or, rather, pulling in the dough in hopes of accomplishing said buck raking.

Video ad network, Tremor Media, announced yesterday that it completed a round of funding to the tune of $40 million, bringing it's venture capital total to $82 million since the company was founded in 2006.  (And who said we are in a recession?)

This VC round is also notable since Tremor's primary source of revenue is selling pre-roll spots - those approximately 30-seconds of online video that run before you watch your online video.  Research firms Magna Global and the Internet Advertising Bureau still show search-based advertising - such as the ads that pop-up on Google post-keyword search - hanging onto nearly 50% of the market share, while digital video ads pick up a comparatively tiny 4%.

Does Tremor and its deep-pocket financiers know something we don't?  This apparent confidence in the online video realm suggests they might.  Perhaps they are looking into the not-so-distant future when computers and televisions become synonymous.

Personally, I often find online ads...well, bothersome, and I suspect most consumers would agree.  Nevertheless, it is a solid competitor in the advertising market.  Analysis from the Internet Advertising Bureau, which keeps tabs on the market's trends, shows that Internet advertising revenues in 2009 ranked third, right behind television and newspapers.  According to a recent report from research and advertising firm, Magna Global, online advertising is estimated to generate global revenues of over $59 billion dollars this year, up from a "mere" $6 billion in 2000, and growing to $90 billion by 2015.