Year in Review for Canadian Internet Marketing

2007 saw growth and new initiatives for the internet marketing industry. Entrance of many large US web properties, new service offerings, more focus being placed on local targeting, record breaking spending, and new legislation are sure to effect Canada’s Internet marketing landscape in 2008.

Here’s what we have for 2007:

January 2007

• The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) called on the federal government to enact legislation requiring organizations to notify individuals when their personal information is out in the open as a result of a security breach.

February 2007

• Microsoft adCenter comes to Canada

March 2007

• ITU reports 22,000,000 Internet users in Canada, 67.8% of the population
• Canadian Internet Marketing blog, One Degree, is purchased by Kate Trgovac and a small group of investors

April 2007

• Google buys DoubleClick for $3.1 billion
• Trader Corporation enters into partnership with Quebe’s largest classified website LesPAC.com

May 2007

• MySpace officially launches its Canadian version in both English and French languages at ca.myspace.com

June 2007

• Search Engine Strategies Conference in Toronto
• Yahoo closes its auction site in Canada and US to concentrate on it’s more popular sites

July 2007

• As the second largest group of Google Finance users, Google introduces Google Finance Canada, a localized version for Canadian investors
• Yellowpages.ca launches Facebook integration for local businesses

August 2007

• MySpace Launches Mobile Functionality in Canada with Rogers Wireless Corp.

September 2007

• Canadian Revenue Agency wins a Federal court order, which forces eBay Canada Ltd. to provide the names, telephone numbers, addresses, and email addresses of its high volume sellers.

October 2007

• SOHO|SME Business Conference & Expo conference focuses on Small Office Home Office “For Businesses On The Grow”, held in Toronto and Vancouver
• Canadian Marketing Association hosts its Digital Marketing Conference
• Yellow Pages Group and Google Expand Strategic Relationship to become the first Canadian based reseller of Google Adwords ads

November 2007

• Google’s YouTube launches a Canadian version
• Apple Computer launches a version of iTunes online music service in Canada
• Canada Post founds virtual city, Second Life where shoppers can browse national retailers
• eMarketer reports estimate $1,385 million CAD spending on Internet advertising (2006 rose by 80% and passed the C$1 billion (US$894 million) mark for the first time)
• The Interactive Advertising Board (IAB) of Canada launches a “social network” to celebrate 10 years of the interactive industry.
• IAB Canada holds “The Big Day: Genius Edition” conference both in Montreal and Toronto, highlighting the newest trends in online marketing

December 2007

• Passport Canada’s website finds security flaw that allowed easy access to the personal information - including social insurance numbers, dates of birth and driver’s licence numbers of people applying for new passports.
• Calgary named Canada’s safest “cyber-city” with 90% of respondents having up-to-date security software, according to a Symantec sponsored survey

In 2007 the US dutifully played the role of our big brother with Canadian version hand-me-downs of its larger website services. For the most part, Canadian businesses have been doing a lot of watching and using, but very little investing. With a great launch pad laid down in 2007 there are a lot of opportunities here. So what’s next, what can we do as Canadian business owners to turn all eyes on us?

2008 predications on the way!

Comments

• Fantastic! I love that we (One Degree) made the list! Exciting things coming in 2008 - thank you for the shoutout!

  Comment by Kate Trgovac — December 28th, 2007